Lemon and Strawberry Meringue Pie

Spring is here, so grab those lemons.

1 hour prep

3 hours cook

Serves 8-10

Chris Cahill

Ingredients

1 SheetShortcrust Pastry

300 gSugar (for curd)

3 tbspFlour

4 tbspCornstarch

540 mlWater

3 LemonsJuice and Zest

45 gUnsalted Butter

6 Egg Yolks

2 tbspStrawberry Powder

6 Egg Whites

215 gSugar (for meringue)

2 gCream of Tartar

Lemon pies are like, fine... but there's always room for improvement! To balance out the tangy flavour of the lemon we've swirled through a sweet strawberry curd. Topped off with a torched meringue, this is the perfect pie to serve your friends on the warm spring afternoon!

Method

Preheat oven to 200ºC then grease a pie dish. Lay the pastry sheet into the dish then trim around the top edge leaving enough for shrinkage. Bake for 15 mins, then apply an egg wash and bake for a further 5 mins until golden brown.

Add sugar, flour, and cornstarch to a saucepan and whisk together. Add water and the juice and zest from 2 lemons. Cook over medium heat. Whisk continuously until it reaches a boil. Add in butter and keep whisking until melted.

Whisk together egg yolks in a separate bowl and slowly add in 1/2 cup of hot sugar water(from the pan in above instructions) whisking continuously. You want to warm up the egg yolks without ending up with scrambled eggs.

Add these hot egg yolk mixture to your saucepan. Whisking again to thicken. Bring to a boil while whisking then remove from heat. Remove a cup of curd, add strawberry powder to it and mix well.

Pour the lemon curd mixture into you the cooled pie case, followed by spoonfuls of the strawberry curd. Swirl with a spoon, pressing the strawberry mixture down through the lemon curd for better distribution. Leave to cool, then place in the fridge for 2 hours to set.

Before serving whisk the egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until the sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mixer to a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (or use a large bowl and a handheld electric mixer) and whip on high to stiff, glossy peaks, about 5 minutes.

Pile the meringue on top of the tart and use a kitchen torch to toast it until golden brown all over. Serve immediately!