How could you resist?

Lemon Meringue pie has to be one of my favourite desserts, especially when made with a biscuit base. Pastry is good and all, but there's something about the crumbly texture that just works so well with the puffy meringue. The one thing I hate about making this dessert is that the meringue always ends up sliding away from the filling when you put a slice on a plate, and it ends up looking like a big mess >_< The recipe I used was adapted from Williams and Sonoma's 'Essentials of Baking'. Originally it had a pastry crust, but I substituted this for a biscuit base. Other than that I didn't make any changes. I like this recipe a lot, the lemon filling isn’t too sweet and the meringue is light and fluffy :)

I love the way droplets of water form on the meringue after it's cooled

Recipe: Lemon Meringue Pies

Base:

Ingredients:

200g crumbed digestive biscuits
4-5 tablespoons butter

Method:

Grease and line a 23cm ceramic pie dish. Mix together the biscuit crumbs and melted butter and press evenly into the base of the prepared tin. Baking in oven at 150 degrees Celsius/ 300 F for about ten minutes, or until golden brown. Transfer to fridge to cool

Lemon Filling

Ingredients:

6 tabelspoons/45g cornstarch

1 1/2 cups/ 375ml water

5 large egg yolks

1 3/4 cups/440g granulated sugar

1/2/ cup/125ml fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

Method:

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and 1/2 cup/ 125 ml of the water and stir until the cornstarch dissolves.
In a saucepan, whisk together the egg yolks, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and remaining 1 cup/ 250 ml water until well blended. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture and bring to the boil over a medium heat whisking constantly, about 8 minutes. Boil for a further 1 minute until the mixture thickens and looks clear. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon zest. Using a rubber spatula, scrape the filling into a medium bowl and place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the filling to stop a skin from

Meringue:

Ingredients:

6 large egg whites, at room temperature

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

6 tablespoons/ 90g caster sugar

Method: In a large bowl, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar. Using a hand-mixer beat on medium speed until the whites begin to thicken. Increase the speed and beat until soft peaks form. Slowly and the caster sugar and continue to beat until stiff, shiny peaks form.

To assemble:

Remove the plastic wrap from the lemon filling and pour over pre-baked base. Using a rubber spatula, distribute the meringue evenly over the filling, moulding it upwards towards the centre, and forming swirls and peaks. Bake until meringue is lightly browned, about 12-17 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for one hour. Refrigerate until cold, at least 5 hours or up to overnight. Serve cold.

It’s really, REALLY important to keep it in the fridge for long enough, the lemon filling needs to get good and solid. It’s meant to be supported inside a pie-crust, but seeing as how I use a biscuit base it tends to ooze once cut, but in my opinion it’s worth it.