Lemon Meringue Pie

I am so glad to be able to get back to blogging. Its been such a busy few months. Its sad that when work is hectic my poor blog has to take a back seat. There are so many times I've thought- 'Oh I must post about this wine/dinner/restaurant/recipe". So now I am going to try and play catch up.

Seen as Cape Town is finally seeing a bit of summer I thought I'd share my favourite summer dessert - Lemon Meringue Pie. Its SO easy, my little nearly-4-year old cousin Grace could make it. She's a wizz in the kitchen by the way. I think I'll ask her to guest post sometime.

Anyway back to the recipe...

Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients:

1 packet of tennis biscuits, crushed to crumbs with a wooden spoon

4 tablespoons of butter

1 tin of condensed milk

Juice and zest of one big lemon (must be about a third of a cup of juice)

3 eggs at room temperature.

3 tablespoons of castor sugar.

For the crust:

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. Grease a 25cm pie dish well with butter. Melt the 4 tablespoons of butter carefully on a medium heat in the microwave. Add the crush tennis biscuit crumbs and mix together. The crumbs should stick together. Press the mixture into the pie dish and bake for about 10 mins. Keep an eye on it and take it out as it starts going slightly brown. Put it to the side to cool.

In a bowl mix the lemon juice, zest, tin of condensed milk and 3 egg yolks. Put this mixture to the side.

Get a clean bowl to make your meringue. Put the egg whites in a large bowl. Whisk to soft peaks, then add the sugar a spoonful at a time, whisking between each addition without overbeating.  

Now its time to put it all together. Make sure your biscuit base is relatively cool- it will still be warm to the touch but as long as its not HOT. Fill the crust with the lemon filling and top with the meringue. Return to the oven for 18-20 mins until the meringue is crisp and slightly coloured. Let the pie sit for 15 mins to cool and then place in the Fridge for at least 2 hours to cool it down. Serve cold!