A collection of Lemon Meringue Pie recipes for you to enjoy!

LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Have Ready:

1 pre-baked prepared or home-made pie crust shell

Preheat oven to 300°F.

Filling:

7 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon flour

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 cups water, boiling

4 egg yolks, beaten

grated rind of two lemons

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unstrained lemon juice

Sift together cornstarch, flour, and sugar. Whisk in boiling water, continuing to stir until mixture becomes smooth.

Cook the mixture in top of a double boiler for five minutes. Be sure the water in the double boiler is simmering before the five-minute count begins.

Meanwhile, beat four egg yolks. Stir several tablespoons of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks (to temper), then slowly combine the egg yolks entirely with the remaining hot mixture. Stir in grated lemon rind, butter, salt, and lemon juice.

Stir constantly, continuing to cook until the egg yolks become smooth and thick.

Pour the filling into the baked pie shell. Cover with meringue (see below) while still warm, but not hot.

Meringue:

5 egg whites, stiffly beaten

1/4 teaspoon salt, scant

9 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon lemon juice

Place salt and lemon juice in bowl and beat egg whites until stiff, but not separating. While beating, gradually add sugar.

Spread meringue on top of lemon filling.

Bake pie at 300°F until the meringue takes on a delicately golden color with lightly browned tops. Allow to cool before serving. Garnish with thinly sliced rounds of lemon dipped into coarse sugar or a fresh sprig of mint.

LEMON MERINGUE PIE RECIPE

I wouldn't go so far as to claim that Lemon Meringue Pie is a South African invention.

However, it is a South African favorite.

Any restaurant offering morning and afternoon tea/coffee and cake that doesn't have a Lemon Meringue Pie on the menu is looking to lose customers.

Also, through the ages, South African cooks have added their own improvements to the basic Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe.

In this sense the Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe given here may, at a stretch, be considered a truly traditional and authentic South African recipe.

For the pie you obviously need a pie shell, for this I use a rich, sweet shortcrust pastry.

Rich, because the Lemon Meringue itself is rich and sweet to compliment the sweet meringue and contrast with the tart sweetness of the lemon pie filling.

SHORTCRUST PASTRY PIE SHELL:-

Note, this Shortcrust Pastry recipe will make 4 pie shells. Presumably, you won't be making 4 Lemon Meringue Pies at the same time, so you can either halve the quantities or wrap the pastry in waxed paper and chill until needed. Will last for a week in the refrigerator. DO NOT FREEZE.

500g cake flour (1 lb 1 1⁄2 oz)

350g shortening (12 1⁄2 oz) (butter, a combination of 50% butter and 50% lard, or margarine)

125ml iced water (1⁄2 cup)

40 g sugar (granulated) (1 1⁄2 oz)

25 ml lemon juice. Preferably freshly squeezed. (2 tbsp)

5ml Salt (1 tsp)

1 Egg

Double sift the dry ingredients (flour, sugar & salt) together into a mixing bowl.

Cut the shortening into the dry mixture and rub until the mixture takes on the appearance of coarse crumbs.

Sprinkle the water and lemon juice onto the crumb mixture and press together lightly to form a solid mass.

IMPORTANT: Do not knead the pastry and avoid over working.

Wrap in waxed paper and chill until required.

As an added taste I often add 10 ml (2 teaspoons) of lemon zest (the finely grated outside either yellow or green of a lemon) to the dry ingredients when I know that I am going to be using the pastry for Lemon Meringue Pies.

When ready for use, line pie tins with the pastry and bake at 190oC (375oF) for 15 minutes..

SOUTH AFRICAN LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Lemon Meringue Pie

LEMON MERINGUE PIE FILLING

250g (sweetened condensed milk (9 oz)

65ml castor sugar (6 tbsp)

3 medium sized lemons

3 eggs.

Juice the lemons and using a rasp grate the outside of the lemons to obtain the zest. Be careful to only grate the outer colored skin of the lemons and not the white pith.

Separate the eggs.

In a mixing bowl beat together the egg yolks, lemon zest and lemon juice until the mixture becomes thick and creamy.

Beat in the condensed milk and pour the resulting mixture into a baked pastry shell.

Using a clean bowl beat together the egg whites and castor sugar until the mixture forms stiff peaks, be careful not to beat so much that the meringue mixture becomes dry.

Spoon the meringue mixture over the lemon pie filling. Do not smooth the top.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180oC (350oF) for 25 minutes.

Remove and allow to cool.

Serve the Lemon Meringue Pie cold; some people prefer to chill Lemon Meringues in a refrigerator before serving.