Lemon Meringue Pie

So…. what do you do when life hands you lemons? I know!!! You make lemon meringue pie!!! What better way to use up some lemons. Oh, and if you still have left after making this pie, see this post on how to use them around the house http://www.livingdelish.com/lemon-or-lime/

So for those of you who haven’t tried this heavenly pie, let me give you a short description, a Lemon meringue pie is a shortcrust pastry shell, filled with a kind of silky-custardy, lemon filling and topped of with a fluffy and airy meringue.

This pie dates back to the Medieval times but the meringue on top was only added much later. The recipe as we know it today was perfected in the 19th-century, this is when the meringue was added.

The trick to the perfect meringue

There are a few secrets to a perfect meringue, follow these steps to ensure a perfect meringue each time:

• Always use room temperature eggs.
• Make triple sure that the bowl you are planning to use is super clean and dry.
• A Glass or metal mixing bowl works best for whipping up the eggs.
• Older eggs will produce a fluffier and higher meringue.
• Add 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar for every egg that you use, before beating.
• Ensure that you do not overmix the meringue. Only mix it until it has reached soft peak stage. If you overbeat it, It will collapse after baking. See it’s as easy peasy as lemon squeezy. 🤣

Ok, before we start, This is a time saver recipe. The traditional crust is made of shortcrust. I make my Lemon meringue with the classic crushed cookie base. Hey, It saves time and man oh man, it tastes great!!
Also, the recipe calls for tennis biscuits. They are a sweet, coconutty butter biscuit we South Africans are in love with, If you can find something similar it’s great. Otherwise try to change things up a bit by using Ginger biscuits instead. The taste combination with Lemon is awesome!

Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe

Ingredients

Crust
400g Tennis biscuits
150g butter, melted

Filling
2 x 385g condensed milk
250ml Lemon juice
6 Extra large eggs yolks

Topping
6 extra large egg whites, room temperature
375 ml caster sugar
6/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar
Pinch of salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 160˚C. Prepare a 22 cm spring-form pan by greasing it with some butter or using a non stick spray.

Start with the crust.
Crush the cookies until fine. (You can use a food processor to speed this process up. Otherwise you place your cookies in a clean zip lock sandwich bag and seal. Use a rolling pin and crush the cookies until fine)

Now add the melted butter to the crushed cookies. Mix very well. Press the cookie mixture into your prepared tin. Fill the base of the tin as well as +/- 3 cm up the sides of the tin. Set aside while doing the filling.

Filling
Add the condensed milk and lemon in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl and using a fork mix the egg yolks well. Once mixed add this to the lemon mixture. Mix well. Pour the mixture into the crust and bake for 15 minutes.
Once done, take it out of the oven and set aside.

Topping
In a Super clean, glass or metal mixing bowl start to whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peak stage has been reached. Slowly add the sugar and the salt and mix until combined. Do not over mix.

Spoon this over the baked pie, use the back of a spoon and fluff it up.

Bake again for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow to cool, and ENJOY!