Lemon Meringue Pie - No Weeping!

Dear Reader, I am so excited to share this Lemon Meringue Pie recipe with you today! I've been working on perfecting this pie for weeks now. This Lemon Meringue pie is made with a delicious crostata dough base with a lemon curd filling and a gorgeous huge cloud of Italian meringue! And guess what? It won't weep or drip!! This classic American pie is a definite pushy recipe Dear Reader!

Lemon meringue pie is said to be 200 years old and has its origins in 19th-century Philadelphia thanks to Elizabeth Goodfellow, a youn ge female entrepeneur and operator of a bakery shop and America’s first cooking school. The pie evolved from one of her signature desserts, a rich lemon pudding that she eventually topped with fluffy meringue. It was for practical reasons: her lemon custard recipe used the yolks of ten eggs and rather than wasting the whites she likely whipped them with sugar to create a meringue. And hence, the classic Lemon Meringue Pie was born!

Tips For Making Lemon Meringue Pie

1 - Lemon Meringue Pie is made up of 3 layers: the crostata dough pie crust, lemon filling and meringue. To make the crostata dough make sure that the pastry dough rests in the freezer for 30 minutes or overnight in the fridge. We also do not trim the pastry until after it bakes so that it doesn't pull back and shrink. This is a tip I learned from a pastry chef and all you need is a sharp paring knife to trim the cooked pastry. Make sure to brush away any crumbs that end up in the cooked tart shell too.

2 - We will "seal" the crostata base with egg wash. This means that your pastry will still be crisp 2 days on.

3 The lemon filling based on my classic lemon curd stabilised with gelatine. I like to strain my curd to ensure that any bits of egg white are taken out. However sieving it also catches the zest which I love the flavour of. I divide the zest into 2 and then add another lot of zest once strained. I also used a bottled lemon juice just because I had over ordered it and it was still delicious.

4 - The lemon curd will seem too liquidy when you first cook it but it firms up upon cooling. Adding the gelatine also firms it up. I leave it to cool a bit before pouring it in the base.

5 - For the meringue make sure that the beater and bowl are spotlessly clean. I wash them and then wipe them with a vinegar sprayed paper towel before using. Any traces of fat or yolk will mean that your meringue won't whip up as well.

6 - Cream of tartar is essential for ensuring that your meringue is as stiff as possible which makes it easier to cut.

7 - This is not the ideal pie to transport. If you have to, use one of those extra high cake boxes and secure the pie to the base with a non stick mat.

8 - When slicing the pie, the first pie is always the hardest to cut but after that it should slice just fine. Just carefully lift it onto a plate keeping it right next to the pie.

Troubleshooting: Why Does My Lemon Meringue Pie Weep?

This is the number one issue with lemon meringue pies and is so frustrating when you've spent time and money on making something! Weeping happens when the sugar in the meringue isn't completely dissolved and leaks out of the meringue. The problem is when you use French meringue, it will weep, almost within hours. There are three mains types of meringue: French (simplest) and Swiss and Italian. Swiss and Italian meringue require you to cook either the egg whites and sugar into a syrup (Swiss) or make a sugar syrup (Italian). Out of the three Italian meringue is the most stable and can keep at room temperature for several days. Italian meringue will not weep I promise. Also this lemon curd filling won't weep either (I have found some of the recipes using cornflour to thicken the filling like Southern Living's separates after a couple of days!).

How Do We Keep The Base Crisp On a Lemon Meringue Pie?

We mix up an egg wash and brush the base and sides of the pie with it and bake it. This creates a barrier between the lemon curd and the base so that it stays beautifully crisp!

Is The Meringue On Top Raw?

The meringue on this pie is finished with a blowtorch rather than going in the oven (the curd would melt in the oven otherwise). Also Italian meringue is slightly more cooked than French meringue as the hot syrup hits the eggs but it is still not a fully cooked product. If your eggs are fresh and you don't have any health issues you can use regular eggs.

If you have concerns that it is safe to eat, you can use pasteurised egg whites. Not all eggs are pasteurised, if they are they will be clearly marked so and you can buy frozen pasteurised egg whites. However having said this, it says on the packaging "may contain traces of yolk" and you may know that you cannot have yolk when making a meringue!

Dear Reader, I am sharing this recipe as I am finally confident that this works beautifully and produces a consistently delicious lemon meringue pie. To get here I made so many lemon meringue pies testing out different ideas and combinations. It all started when Monica DM'd me a picture of a lemon meringue pie. It had a huge layer of meringue on top and was truly jaw-droppingly beautiful. I started trying to achieve this and they were all a dismal failure. Either the meringue wept or the lemon filling separated after a day or two. And I tried a reportedly "non weeping meringue" made with a cornflour and sugar slurry whipped into the egg whites and not only did it wrinkle if I baked it, it wept if I didn't and it tasted terrible too! I swear I was so over it by then that I may have flung the spoonful of meringue at the sink it was so unappetising.

Then I stumbled upon the origin of the lemon meringue pie that she sent me. It came from a restaurant called Gloria in Shoreditch and the lemon meringue pie is their signature dessert. They make 8 lemon meringue pies a day, they cut each into 8 slices and every single slice of this famous pie is sold out every day. Better still, they released the recipe in their cookbok. I was so excited, I was already several pies in without consistent success and I thought I had it all sorted.

I was wrong. So wrong.

The recipe just had bits missing and there was no way that I could achieve it without some serious adjustments. So taking inspiration from Gloria, I made my own crostata dough, my own lemon curd filling and experimented with the trickiest bit: the Italian meringue. The proportions they gave of 4 egg whites didn't even come close to the high pie that they served which was hugely disappointing. But I am nothing if not stubborn! And thankfully I have neighbours that love lemon meringue pie!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you like lemon meringue pie? And is there a dessert that you've always wanted to master?

Lemon Meringue Pie

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 45 minutes plus 1 hour resting/freezing time

Cooking time: 45 minutes

The Base

• 150g/5ozs plain all purpose flour
• 50g/1.7ozs sugar
• 1 egg
• Pinch salt
• 65g/2.3ozs butter, room temperature, cut into 1cm/0.4inch cubes
• 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon water

The Filling

• 4 egg yolks
• 160g/5.6ozs caster sugar
• 100g/3.5ozs butter, cut into 1cm cubes
• 200ml/7flozs lemon juice
• Zest of 2 lemons, separated
• 50ml/1.7flozs water
• 2 teaspoons gelatine powder

Italian Meringue

• 220g/7.7ozs egg whites (around 5 whites), pasteurised*
• 365g/12.9ozs caster or superfine sugar
• 210ml/7.4flozs water
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Buyer's Tip: Pasteurised egg whites are a bit safer to eat than non pasteurised as an Italian meringue is semi cooked but not fully. Pasteurised eggs are marked as so and you can also use pasteurised frozen egg whites thawed out (please check the label). However frozen egg whites may contain traces of yolk so I prefer to use regular or pasteurised whole eggs and separate them myself.

Step 1 - To make the crostata dough, spray the base and sides of a 20cm/8inch loose bottomed fluted tart tin. In a medium bowl whisk the flour and sugar together and add the egg, salt and butter cubes and rub the mixture together with your fingers until you form a dough. Knead briefly just until it comes together. Then roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper until it fits the tin being sure to accommodate the side height too. Remove one sheet of parchment and gently place the dough into the tart tin. Don't worry if it cracks, this dough is very forgiving and you can use excess dough to patch any gaps. Don't trim the dough, let it cascade over the sides. Cover and place in the freezer for 30 minutes or in the fridge overnight.

Step 2- Preheat oven to 170C/340F. Crumple a sheet of parchment up and then spread out on top of the dough. Fill with pie weights (you can also use dried beans). Bake for 23 minutes. Then brush with the extra yolk mixed with water on the base and sides and bake for another 12-15 minutes until it is golden and crisp. Trim the excess pastry with a sharp paring knife and brush away the crumbs from the tart. Cool.

Step 3 - Make the lemon filling. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Set on low to medium heat (I set it on 4 out of 10 where 10 is the hottest temperature). Add the butter and heat slowly until the butter melts. Add the zest to the egg yolk mixture. Wait until the butter has melted to add the lemon juice. Stir using a flat bottomed spatula or whisk. It takes about 15 minutes for it to thicken up and stirring every so often is good. Strain through a fine sieve- this will catch the first lot of zest. Then add the second part of the zest back in (I love the flavour of the zest).

Step 4 -Place the water in a microwave proof bowl and sprinkle the gelatin powder evenly over the top. Microwave for 20 seconds and then add into the curd mixture. Allow to cool for 30 minutes. Then pour into the tart base and refrigerate for 2 hours until set (up to 6 hours).

Step 5 -Make the meringue an hour or so before you want to serve it. Make sure that your mixer bowl and whisk are very clean by wiping with vinegar and a paper towel. Place the egg whites in the bowl.

Step 6 -In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan place the sugar and water on medium heat. Do not stir. Just allow most of the sugar to dissolve which will take 5-6 minutes. Stir for 30 seconds or until all of the sugar is dissolved. Then turn heat up to medium high and simmer for 4-6 minutes until it reaches 110C/230F. Once it reaches this turn on the mixer to whisk the egg whites to foamy, soft peaks with the cream of tartar. Within 3-4 minutes the sugar should reach 115C/240F.

Step 7 -With the mixer running, pour the simple into the meringue in a thin, steady stream until all added. Add the lemon juice and continue whisking for 5 minutes until soft and fluffy. Cool for 10 minutes or until cooled so that it doesn't melt the lemon curd filling.

Step 8 - Score the top off the lemon curd with a fork (to let the meringue grip onto something). Spread the meringue on top of the now completely set lemon filling. Shape it into an egg shape smoothing the edges-I find once I have the general shape down, that it helps to smooth the sides from the bottom to the top using a angled spatula. Turn your blowtorch on medium heat and burnish the outside of the meringue. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.