Welcoming Spring with a Lemon Meringue
Ingredients
Pastry
- 220 g Cake Flour or all purpose
- 50 g Almond Flour
- 50 g Icing Sugar
- 130 g Butter, cold unsalted or salted
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 Large Egg Yolk
- Pinch of Salt if you are not using salted butter
Lemon Curd
- 5 Large Eggs
- 3 Large Egg Yolks
- Zests of 2 - 3 Lemons
- 205 ml Fresh Lemon Juice
- 200 g Butter
The Meringue
- 4 Large Egg Whites
- 80 g Castor or Icing Sugar
Instructions
For the Pastry
- In a mixing bowl, rub butter (using fingertips) into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs or sandy texture.Add the egg yolk and egg to bring it into a dough.
- Mix, kneading slightly until it comes together. Wrap the dough with cling wrap and freeze for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 200℃.
- Place the pastry dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll into a circle that is larger than your quiche pan. If it’s too cold/stiff to roll out, leave it for 5 to 15 minutes then continue.
- Line the quiche pan and freeze again for 15 minutes, this is for in case the dough is overworked and the butter is no longer cold.
- Remove the pastry from the fridge. Prick the pastry in the pan with a fork. Line with baking paper and pour in baking beans.
- Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the baking beans and paper and bake again for a further 10 minutes, or until the base is dry and firm.
Lemon Curd
- Place all eggs and egg yolks, sugar, lemon zests in a mixing bowl or jug and pour in the lemon juice and whisk to combine.
- Place a medium saucepan on the stove over medium heat, pour the mixture and cook, stirring for few minutes or until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture starts to slightly thicken.
- Gradually add the butter cubes, stirring continuously until melted all is melted Continue to cook, stirring continuously until the mixture is thickened and coats the back of a spoon.
- Strain immediately into a mixing bowl or jug, and transfer into the mason jars, allow it to cool completely, then refrigerate.
The Meringue
- Using an electric whisk, beat the egg whites while gradually adding sugar. Continue beating on high speed until stiff peaks form and the meringue is glossy.
Assembling and Baking
- Preheat the oven to 180℃.
- Spread lemon curd filling into the baked crust.
- The spread meringue on top of the filling.
- Try not do what I did, and spread your meringue all the way to the edges of tart shell, to prevent the meringue from weeping.
- Bake for 15 to 25 minutes.
- Place in the fridge to set overnight or for 8 hours.