Catch the last rays of sunshine in this sour-sweet pie. This pie consists of a homemade tarte shell, homemade lemon curd, and a fluffy sweet golden meringue to top it all off. It's a little masterpiece that takes some time but I promise, it is worth it :) The recipe gives ingredients for a pie dish of approximately 23cm in diameter.
For the crust:
220g Flour
100g cold Butter
50g Confectioners' Sugar
1 Egg
Pinch of Salt
For the filling:
125g Lemon Juice (~3 lemons)
150g Butter
125g Sugar
3 Eggs
2 tsp Lemon Zest
For the meringue:
2 Egg white (room temperature)
Pinch of Salt
1/8 tsp Cream of Tartar
4 tbsp superfine Sugar
Method:
Prepare the dough for the crust: In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar and salt. Cut the cold butter into cubes, add to the flour mixture and knead the dough into a crumbly consistency with your hands. Add the egg and knead again, until you have a homogenous dough. Roll the dough into a ball and wrap it in clear foil. Set to cool for at least one hour.
For the lemon curd filling, mix the 3 eggs and sugar in a small cooking pot until smooth. Add the lemon juice and zest. Now heat the mixture gradually to a medium temperature until it starts to simmer a little. Continuously stir and make sure the mixture does not boil! Once the mixture starts to thicken, take it off the heat source and push it through a fine sieve. Let it cool to room temperature.
Once the lemon curd has cooled off, cut the 150g butter into cubes and add it to the mixture. Blend with a hand blender and set to cool for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 170°C and lightly grease a pie dish (~24cm diameter).
Remove the cooled dough from the fridge and thinly roll it out on a flat surface. Place the dough in the pie dish and lightly press it to the edges. Fold in any excess dough and puncture the floor several times using a fork. Lay a piece of baking paper across the dough and fill it with pie weights (you can also use rice or other dried legumes i.e. beans). Bake the crust for about 15-20 minutes, until it turns slightly golden. Leave to cool.
Fill the crust with your homemade lemon curd and set to cool for at least a few hours (best overnight).
Freshly prepare the meringue before serving. In a glass or metal bowl (plastic is never 100% clean from grease, which will cause your egg whites to not stiffen) whip the egg whites and salt on low speed until frothy. Add the cream of tartar and continue mixing on medium speed until the egg whites start forming large bubbles around the edges. While continue mixing at medium speed, add the sugar teaspoon by teaspoon, waiting for all the sugar to be mixed in before adding the next teaspoon. The meringue is done when it starts forming soft peaks or (if you dare) doesn't fall out when turning the bowl upside down.
Using a spatula, smoothly spread the meringue over the pie (make sure the pie is room temperature before doing so). To turn it golden, either place it in a 180°C hot oven (preferably with only upper heat) for a about 12 minutes - you must stay next to it! – or use a blow torch.
Enjoy the taste of sunshine :)
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