Lemon Meringue Pie (Tarte au Citron Meringuée)
Classic French lemon tart with sublime lemon curd, almond pastry and meringue.
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Servings: people
Equipment
- 23 cm loose based (ideally) fluted flan/tart tin, greased and dusted with flour
Ingredients
Lemon Curd
- 4 unwaxed organic lemons (juice and zest)
- 180 g fine sugar
- 1 orange - zest only
- 100 g butter cut into small cubes
- 3 eggs plus one yolk (save the egg white for the meringue😁)
- pinch salt
Pâte Sablée
- 175 g all-purpose flour (sieved with a pinch of salt). For a slightly sturdier pastry case, see the option in the Notes.
- 2 tbsp almond flour optional - reduce the all-purpose flour by 2 tablespoons if you are using almond flour
- 100 g butter (cold), cut into cubes
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 large egg yolk (save the egg white for the meringue)
- 1 tbsp cold water
- ½ tsp pure vanilla paste/vanilla powder
- ¼ tsp salt
Meringue
- 4 egg whites (at room temperature) make sure there is no trace of egg yolk in the whites
- 200 g fine golden caster sugar
Instructions
Pâte Sablée
- Either by hand or with a food processor. Rub the flour and butter until you have fine breadcrumbs, and incorporate the sugar.
- Whisk together the egg yolk and vanilla and work into the flour mixture until it just comes together. You may well need a little cold water to help it come together. Handle as little as possible.
- Gather the pastry into a ball. Wrap in cling flim and leave to rest in the fridge for at least an hour. Make the lemon curd.
- Line your tart tin with the pastry, prick the base, and blind-bake in a preheated oven at 160 °C for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly golden. Lift the baking beans out after 10 minutes to allow the base to cook.
Lemon Curd
- In a heatproof bowl, put the orange zest, lemon zest and juice, butter, salt and sugar and set over a pan of hot water.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg yolks.
- Once all the butter has melted, slowly add the egg mixture, whisking gently to thoroughly incorporate it into the butter. Cook, over a gentle heat, for 12 minutes or until the curd has thickened. Stirring occasionally.
- Remove the lemon curd from the heat, set it aside, and keep warm.
Meringue (optional)
- Once the pastry case has cooled, you can make the meringue. Whisk the egg whites and sugar, in a sqeaky clean glass bowl, until holding their peaks. Stiff and fluffy - about 10 minutes.
Assembling the Tart
- For Lemon Tart only, fill the cooled tart base with the warm lemon curd and bake, on the middle shelf, in a preheated oven at 180 °C for 20 minutes.
- If adding meringue, fill the tart base as above, then immediately spoon the meringue around the edge of the tart working from the outside in. The meringue should just touch the pastry shell. Bake straight away in a preheated oven on the middle shelf, at 180 °C for about 18-20 minutes or until the meringue is slightly hard and golden.
Notes
Don't be put off by what seem to be complicated instructions.
Each element is straightforward, but you need to give each stage time and be patient. Let the pastry rest for an hour before blind-baking and cool before adding the curd. Don't rush the butter melting for the curd. Set it over a bowl of hot water and leave it to melt. Don't heat it, or the eggs will curdle. Only start over a very gentle heat once the eggs and butter are thoroughly incorporated. Stir occasionally!
Add the meringue from the outside in so you don't collapse the pie. The meringue must touch the pastry. It holds it together and will give you a prettier result!
For a sturdier pastry case, use 200g of flour and 115g of butter. All other ingredients remain the same. You may need to add a fraction more iced water.
Recipe by @fpnwork.
