Lemon Meringue Pie

Mouth-wateringly good, soft, light and not too filling. Great served warm with cream, or cool on it’s own.

To serve 4:

For the Pastry
– 150g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
– 85g butter, cut into small pieces, plus extra for greasing the pan
– 35g icing sugar, sifted
– Finely grated rind of ½ lemon
– ½ egg yolk, beaten
– 1 ½ tbsp of milk

For the Filling
– 3 tbsp cornflour
– 300ml water
– Juice and grated rind of 2 lemons
– 175g caster sugar
– 2 separated eggs

1. Sift the flour into a bowl, and mix in the butter with your fingertips, until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Mix in the remaining pastry ingredients and knead briefly on a lightly floured surface, before leaving to rest for 30minutes

2. Heat the oven to 180 C/350 F/ Gas Mark 4, and grease a 20cm pie dish with some butter. Roll the pastry out to 5mm thick, and line the base and sides of the dish. Prick with a fork, line with baking paper and baking beans. Bake for 15minutes then remove from the oven, taking out the paper and baking beans. Reduce the heat to 150 C/300 F/ Gas Mark 2.

3. For the filling, mix the cornflour with some of the water. Pour the rest of the water into a saucepan, and stir in the lemon juice, rind and paste before bringing to the boil, constantly stirring the mixture. Cook for 2 minutes, then lower the heat. Add 5 tablespoons of the sugar, egg yolks and pour into the pastry case.

4. Whisk the eggs in a clean, dry, grease-free bowl until stiff. Add in the rest of the sugar, and spread over the pie. Bake for 40 more minutes, before removing from the heat, allowing to cool and serve.