Lemon Meringue Pie

How refreshing is a lemon meringue pie? In the closing months of July, it was surprisingly sunny in New Zealand (this being a time in the middle of winter). My mother had just picked her rather small crop of lemons from her precious tree, and they were starting to go a little wrinkly. I compromised with her, and ended up with the mission to make lemon meringue pie. However, I did cheat a little. As the name suggests, the pie needs to have a crust. But with a deadline of that same day’s lunch, and the fact the lemon curd needs to be chilled, I decided to crumb up a packet of Malt biscuits and stir in some melted butter. This worked fine though I might add a bit more butter next time as the base didn’t hold together as well as I thought it should.

The recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of lemon juice, in which last years yield of lemons did not accommodate. So, I substituted and used only a cup of lemon juice, and 1 3/4 of a cup of water. This made a great curd, that was still tart, but wasn’t too harsh and had a delicate sweetness to it. After completing the base and curd and storing it in the fridge (the recipe filled to flans full!), I was ready to beat up those egg whites. They say you are to add some baking powder to the meringue to make it even lighter, but I don’t think this is necessary unless you’re seriously bad at making meringue.

By lunch, I had made two delicious warm Lemon Meringue Pies ready to be eaten. And eaten they were. One thing I love about Lemon Meringue Pie is that it can be eaten at any temperature. (This also makes it a dangerous dish at that!)

My family enjoyed it so much that they requested that I would make it for my sisters birthday the following week!

Ingredients:

250g Griffin's Malt Biscuits
100g Butter (melted)
½ Cup Cornflour
1½ Cups Caster Sugar
1½ Cups Lemon Juice
1¼ Cups Water
60g Butter
4 Eggs
2 tsp Lemon Rind

Instructions:

1. Put the Malt Biscuits into a food processor and blend until like breadcrumbs.

2. Add 100g butter (melted) and mix.

3. Press biscuit mixture into a flan tin, refrigerate.

4. Mix cornflour and ½ C caster sugar in saucepan, gradually stirring in lemon juice and water. Stir on a high heat until boiling and the mixture is thick. Reduce heat and simmer.

5. Remove from heat and stir in extra butter, egg yolks and lemon rind. Let cool for 10 – 15 minutes.

6. Spread mixture over biscuit base, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.

7. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, add remaining caster sugar, beating until sugar dissolves.

8. Spread the meringue mixture over base forming peaks. Bake in the oven until meringue is slightly browned.