Easy Lemon Meringue Pie From Nigel Slaters Toast
A golden shortcrust shell with a thick jelly like curd and Meringue top.
Equipment
- 9 cm Flan Pan
Ingredients
Pastry Shell
- 225 g Plain Flour
- 110 g Cold Cubed Butter
- 1 Pinch of Salt
- 2 tbsp Cold Water
Lemon Curd Filling
- 1 cup Caster Sugar
- 1/3 cup Corn Starch
- 1 Pinch of Salt
- 1/2 cup Warm Water
- Peel of 1 lemon
- 1/2 cup Lemon Juice
- 4 Eggs Yolks
- 10 g Gelatine Powder
- 1 Drop Yellow Food Colour
French Meringue
- 4 Egg whites
- 100 g Caster Sugar
Swiss Meringue
- 5 Egg Whites
- 100 g Caster Sugar
Instructions
Pastry Directions
- Sieve 225g flour into a bowl and press the 125g cold butter through your fingers until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.
- Gradually add the cold water approx. 2 tablespoons mixing with a knife which helps prevent over working the dough and then your hands until the mixture just comes together. See how I am just squishing the ingreidnts together. See how it has just formed a ball wrap in clingfilm and flatten into around disk.
- Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. This allows the shortcrust pastry to rest and absorb the water we added.
- Then roll out the pastry and line a 9cm flan case gently lowering the edges of the pastry into the corners. Make sure to leave some over hang of pastry around the edges to avoid shrinkage in the oven. Then poke with a fork which is called docking the pastry and will help prevent bubbles forming on the pastry during baking.
- Bake it blind for approx 10 minutes at 160c. Line with baking paper and fill with rice or dried beans and cook until golden brown 25-30 minutes. The remove the rice from the tart shell.
- Whisk one egg yolk and brush the inside of the shell making sure to coat all over. This is going to prevent the lemon curd from making the shell soggy later. Place back into the oven for another 10 minutes. While still hot use a knife to cut the edges of the pastry off.
Lemon Curd Filling
- For the lemon filling grate the zest of one lemon. Sprinkle 10 grams of gelatine powder into a tablespoon of water leave for a few minutes until it looks spongy.
- Wipe the bowl and whisk with vinegar then separate the egg whites into the bowl and yolks in another bowl.
- Place all the ingredients in except the egg yolks. Bring slowly to the boil, mixing slowly to combine allowing the sugar and corn starch to dissolve and thicken. Once you see bubbles continue mixing for about a minute to make sure the corn starch has cooked through. Remove from the heat.
- Whisk the egg yolks gradually to the thick lemon mix. Return to the heat but do not allow to boil.
- Place bloomed gelatine in the microwave or in a saucepan and slowly heat until the gelatine has melted.
- Add to the lemon mixture along with yellow food colouring for that real 60s vibes they would put food colouring into everything.
- Pour into the prebaked flan case and allow it to cool completely. About 2 hours or over night.
French Meringue
- Whisk the egg whites until thick and you can hold the bowl upside down without the egg whites falling out. Gradually add the sugar.
- Spread the meringues onto the lemon mix making sure to cover right to the edge then pile the rest of the meringue on top or pipe in a decorative design.
Swiss Meringue
- 5 egg whites and 1 cup sugar and heated the mixture to 75celcius over a Baine- Marie and whisked the whites until stiff peak. I spread the mixture of the pie. Giving the dome shape and doing this with my spatula to give peaks all around the dome.