Lemon & Meringue Pie

Photo: violette

Ingredients

for the pastry:

115 grams plain flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

65 grams cold lard cut into pieces

30 milliliters ice water

for the filling:

1 grated rind and juice of large lemon

200 grams caster sugar

25 grams butter

45 milliliters cornflour

3 eggs, separated

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

a pinch of salt

Preparation

For the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a bowl; add the lard and mix with a blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Then stir the iced water just to bid the dough; gather the dough into a ball.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough, transfer it to a 23 cm pie tin and trim the edge to leave a 1 cm overhang. Chill the pie shell in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.

Prick the dough all over with a fork, line with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Bake for 12 minutes at 200 degrees, remove the paper and continue baking for more 6-8 minutes.

In a saucepan combine the lemon rind and juice, 90 g sugar, butter and 250 ml water- bring the mixture to the boil.

Meanwhile, in a bowl, dissolve the cornflour in 15 ml cold water then add the egg yolks. Add the egg yolks to the lemon mixture and return to the boil, whisking about 5 minutes until the mixture thickens - let to cool.

For the meringue - beat the egg whites with the salt and cream of tartar until they hold stiff peaks. Add the remaining sugar and beat until glossy.

Spoon the lemon mixture into the pie shell and spread level, then spoon the meringue on top, smoothing it up to the edge of the crust to seal. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden.