Baking with The Aloe Child: Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon Meringue Pie ….

Just the words make my mouth water …

Today I’m making it. I bought some fresh lemons and they are just begging me to become something more, something better!

What do you need?

Now let me confess right now – I use 2 cans of condensed milk and 250ml lemon juice. Why? Because I like a nice, big filling. I don’t want to wonder what I ate.

How do you make it?

Step 1: The Crust …

Pre-heat the oven to 160°C if you are not going to put the crust in the fridge overnight. 

Start by crumbing your Tennis Biscuits using a ziplock bag and a rolling pin. If you can’t get Tennis Biscuits – or don’t know what it is, any coconut biscuit will do.

Put the biscuits in a bowl.

Now melt 150g of margarine – I use hard margarine – in the microwave. Add it GRADUALLY to the biscuits. You might need more – or less – so don’t chuck it all in at once. The consistency should be that of wet sand.

Spray your dish with a non-stick spray. Press the wet crumbs into it using your hands. Make sure it covers the bottom and sides. Put this in the fridge – preferably overnight.

Step 2: The Filling …

If you have made your crust the day before – pre-heat your oven to 160°C. 

Now remember I use 2 cans of condensed milk and 250 ml lemon juice. I prefer fresh, but you can use artificial as well.

Start by separating your eggs. If you use only one can of condensed milk, you will only use 2 egg yolks. If you use 2 cans of condensed milk, use all 4 egg yolks.

Empty the condensed milk into a bowl. Add the egg yolks (4 if using 2 cans, 2 if using 1 can). Beat with a whisk or electrical beater. Add a pinch of salt and your lemon juice to this (125 ml if you used 1 can, 250 ml if you used 2 cans). Mix thoroughly using a whisk or electrical beater. The mixture will start to thicken.

Pour this mixture (your filling) over the prepared crust – remember, you’ve put it in the fridge.

Step 3: The Meringue …

Take all 4 egg whites and beat until stiff. I use an electrical beater, if you have strong arms, you can do it with a whisk. Be careful not to over beat it. It should look like this.

GRADUALLY – not all at once! – add the sugar, while you are still beating it. It will start to look glossy and won’t break up any more. It should look like this.

Now you are ready to add your meringue to the rest of the pie. Here you have different options, depending on your skill level.

1. Simply spoon it over the filling.

2. You can pipe it. How you pipe it, will definitely depend on your skill level. Here is some inspiration.

After you had a bit of fun creating a master piece – pop it in the oven for more or less 20 minutes. Keep checking it, the higher you have piped your meringue, the faster it will bake. Make sure it doesn’t burn.

This is the one I made this morning.

Happy Baking

Trudie

PS: for a step by step video tutorial, go check out our Facebook page!