Food Monday ~ Lemon Meringue Pie

Confession time: Grannymar is a disaster when it comes to making pastry. My only success is the version used a couple of weeks ago for the quiche. Now when I need to use pastry for a recipe I buy frozen. At the moment Fillo is my favourite. I use oil or egg white to brush it.

Lemon Meringue Pie
Preheat oven to 190°C

100g Pastry of your choice
Line a 18cm (7”) flan tin with pastry and bake blind.

for the filling:

2 eggs, medium, separated
225g caster sugar
1 lemon, juice & grated rind
150ml boiling water
25g cornflour

Reduce the oven to 150°C.
Place egg yolks with 100g sugar, lemon juice, grated rind and boiling water in a saucepan and mix well. Blend cornflour with a little cold water and add to the lemon mixture stirring all the time. Bring to the boil and pour into the baked flan case.

Whisk Egg whites stiffly and gradually beat in remaining sugar. Spread over the flan and bake for about 25 minutes until crisp and pale golden.

10 thoughts on “Food Monday ~ Lemon Meringue Pie

  1. Paddy Bloggit

    I have a ‘recipe’ video to post later ….. look at the influence you have on me!

    Perhaps …. I’ll persuade you to post videos of the cooking in progress! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Grannymar Post author

    Paddy,

    You restore my faith in human nature. There is someone out there today!

    Now will this recipe video be one you prepared earlier ❓ Since I use my two hands when I am cooking I would need a Toyboy to do the filming. Are you offering 🙄

    Reply
  3. steph

    I’m back! I’m back!

    Where is everyone today, Grannymar?

    Maybe they’ve all gone elsewhere as you can’t make pastry 🙄 😉

    The LM pie recipe looks good though I think I prefer to stick with plain, simple meringues…

    or merinGOOS… as we call them in this house!

    Reply
  4. Grannymar Post author

    Steph

    I have only had 2 failures so far _ Liver Pate and now Lemon Meringue Pie.

    I hope you have booked your seat to watch Master Chef Paddy on the films later 🙄

    Reply
  5. steph

    Yep! Just been over there but no sign of Paddy and his fil..UMS as yet!

    You’ve NOT had any failures with your recipes…

    It’s more a case of “you can’t keep everyone happy, all the time”.

    My ‘Ma and Da’ really enjoyed your Lemon Drizzle Cake today but they didn’t twig when I said it was my birthday cake 🙁

    Reply
  6. Baino

    Haha .. now I do know how to make this one. When my mother first was married, her only chef du partie was Lemon Meringue Pie. I have no problem with the pastry but meringue is a challenge. We have a dessert over here called Pavlova which is basically a huge meringue topped with cream and fresh fruit . . can I make a nice crisp white pavlova with a marshmallowy centre? . . .nup . . .hopeless and hence will remain an honorary Australian until I can!

    Reply
  7. Grannymar

    Baino

    We have Pavlova up this end of the world but it is not a patch on the one like you describe that my sis-in -Law from Oz made. I never did have the recipe.

    Reply
  8. Magpie 11

    Bl*st!

    I’ve just managed to lose my whole reply…. here goes again
    I lurv LMP…tangy lemony stuff with fluffy sweet white stuff and short crust pastry… How can LMP be a failure? Unless you use one of those sweetened, caky pastries..yeuk!

    tricks for pastry success..chill everything and have cold hands! Avoid sarcasm from mother by making sure there is no flour on the palms of your hands…”Don’t you have finger tips?” Speed!!! and chill it inthe fridge for at least an hour before rolling out! Roll out thin as possible. Work on a slate stone or metal surface thatconducts heat away.

    Janet’s final trick is to use Half and half plain and whole meal flour!!!

    As for that particular meringue…It’s a hard one…trad meringues are cooked long and slow to dry them out…Don’t give up on it.You’ll find the right temperature and time …… what about the freshness of the eggs? Oh and don’t keep them in the fridge..it makes the whites go runny…something to do with the proteins changing I think!

    Reply
  9. Grannymar Post author

    Magpie

    Some people can make good pastry and others cannot. I am one of the cannot variety. I have tried every trick in the trade over the years and have the coldest hands in Christendom but it does not work for me. I don’t worry about it and get on with what I am good at.

    I make meringues but not Pavlova and since I don’t eat cream I avoid it at home or away.

    I do remember mammy talking about making meringues with real egg whites during the war and leaving them in the airing cupboard over night to dry out. They had the eggs thanks to Granny K, but not the gas to waste cooking them.

    Reply

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