For driving me home I granted one of my colleagues the choice of the July recipe from my To Bake List (TBL). As it was very hot that time he chose the lemon meringue pie. I was very curious to try it and compare it to the Tarte au Citron. You see I am still very proud of that Tarte stuff and I think I can be. That is why I always compare… But this pie was very tasty, too and definitely wins the time-benefit-assessment.

Edit: I have adjusted the recipe slightly because I like to have more filling for a large 28cm tarte.

Pie pastry

• 200 g flour, sifted
• 100 g butter at room temperature
• 50 g icing sugar, sifted
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 egg yolk beaten
• 3 tbsp milk

Sift the flour into a bowl. In another bowl place the butter, sift in the icing sugar and also add the lemon zest. Mix at medium speed with a flat beater, so that you don’t work in too much air. Add egg yolk and milk, mix to blend. Add the sifted flour in 2 parts and mix until everything is combined to a sticky pastry dough. Roll out to the shape you want (for a large tarte form a round that is 2-4 cm larger than your tin), wrap tightly in plastic foil and chill in the fridge for 1 hour. In order to make the filling very tasty mix 115 g sugar and grated zest of 1 lemon and let it sit in a bowl until you make the filling.

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease the tarte tin with vegetable oil. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to a thickness of 5 mm. Dependent on the height of your tin cut out a round that is 2-4 cm larger than your tin so you can cover the side of the tins. Align the round on one side an push it in slightly without giving it too much pressure. Once the pastry is inside the tin, trim the edges with a sharp knife and place the tin in the fridge for 15 minutes. To blind-bake the pastry line with parchment paper and fill with baking beans or raw peas. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 150°C.

Filling and Topping

• 4.5 tbsp cornflour
• 450 ml cold water
• juice and zest of 3 lemons
• 265 g sugar
• 3 eggs, separated

If you read the description and followed all instructions you have a bowl with 115 g of sugar and the zest of 1 lemon. This gives a lot of flavour and I believe that it helps 🙂

For the filling mix the corn flour with a bit of the water to form a paste. Put the rest of the water in a saucepan, stir in the lemon juice and the rest of the zest and blend in the cornflour paste. Bring to boil while stirring constantly and cook for 2 minutes. Let the mixture cool slightly before you stir in the 115 g of sugar with the lemon zest and the egg yolks. Pour the mixture into the pastry case and set aside. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and gradually add the rest of the sugar. Spread over the pie and dress with a fork. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes until the meringue is light brown. Enjoy on a hot day with a lovely cup of tea.