Lemon Meringue Pie

The last of my baking for taking to my sons, its his all time favourite dessert Lemon Meringue Pie. I actually made 2 cos I know 1 just won't suffice.......will it Danny :-)

 The pastry I made is called Rose Crust Pastry and is very rich and buttery, its quite hard to handle so needs to be well chilled to roll out but is really worth the effort. I have used a fork to stab round the sides and base.

 After 20 minutes in a 180*c fan oven the blind baked cases are ready for the lovely tangy lemon filling.

 Mmmmm nicely filled with yumminess

Next step is to whip up the meringue topping, thank goodness for my Kenwood Chef I would hate to have to do this by hand as it needs to be whisked until quite stiff.

 Swirl on top of the lemon and I used a fork to make peaks, you can pipe it on but why make extra washing up, I much prefer the rustic look.

 I turned the oven down to 120*c and popped them in for 35 mins just until they were tinged with golden brown.

These tins make a lovely deep pie, they are recycled from M&S ready meals, and have been well washed out first :-)
Now for the recipe

Rose Crust Pastry this will make enough for 3 6" foil dishes  I used 2 and froze one for later

225gm Plain Flour
85gm Cornflour
85gm Icing Sugar
225gm Butter or Margarine
1 small egg
Cream butter and sugar . Add flour then bind together with the egg.  If the pastry is too sticky add a bit more flour.  Its a very soft mix and a bit hard to handle so need to be well chilled in the fridge, I left mine overnight but a couple of hours should do the trick.  Divide into 3 and roll out to fit, don't worry if it tears just patch it it will be ok.  Bake blind for 20 minutes at 180*c fan oven. If you only want 1 pastry case you can use the rest for some yummy mince pies.

Lemon Filling for 1 case
1 large lemon  grate the zest and squeeze the juice
2 Egg Yolks
100gm Caster Sugar
1/4 pt cold water
25gm Cornflour
Whisk the lot together in a saucepan and over a very gentle heat cook until thickened, Stir all the time and don't let it stick to the bottom of the pan or it will burn.  As soon as it starts to thicken which it will do very quickly remove from heat and use to fill your pastry case.

Meringue Topping for 1 pastry case
2 Egg Whites
100gm Caster Sugar

Whisk egg whites until stiff and gradually add the sugar whisking all the time. Use to top the lemon, pop into the cool oven 120*c for 35 mins until just golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack then refrigerate until needed.

Sorry for the mammoth post.

Have you baked today?

Thank you for looking

Karen xx