Lemon Meringue Pie (British)
These instructions will make a sticky and indulgent lemon meringue pie. If you want the American gel-like centre, use the other recipe instead.
Servings
4
8 digestive biscuits (plain/tea biscuits)
2 imperial tbsp (36 ml / 2.4 US tbsp) butter
1 tin (300 ml) sweetened condensed milk
1–2 lemons, zested and juiced
1 egg yolk
3 egg whites
6 imperial tbsp (108 ml / 7.2 US tbsp) caster sugar
Pound the digestive biscuits into crumbs with the end of a rolling pin.
Add sufficient melted butter to the crumbs to make the mixture cohesive. Mix well, then press it into the bottom of a 10 inch (25 cm) diameter, 1 inch deep pie dish. Press down firmly with the tip of a spoon to make the base.
Combine the sweetened condensed milk and egg yolk. Stir gently, then mix in the lemon zest and juice to taste—more will be better, but be careful not to add too much or it will spoil the texture. Do not stir too much.
Pour the filling into the pie dish, covering the biscuit layer.
Whip the egg whites until foamy. Gradually beat in the sugar until you get stiff peaks.
Spoon the meringue into the pie dish, sealing around the edges.
Bake in a moderately cool oven (325 °F / 162 °C) for about 45 minutes until the meringue is a light golden brown. The aim is to cook the meringue and partly cook the centre (unlike, say, Baked Alaska, where only the top of the meringue is flash-cooked).
45 minutes
Remove from the oven, allow to cool, and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours to set.
2 hours
Enjoy.
- •There are 2 types of lemon meringue pie. The more common version has a lemon "gel" in the centre (which is often a luminous yellow colour), and a hard pastry base. The version above is much stickier.
- •In an earlier version, the filling used 3 egg yolks. It isn't necessary.
- •When making the middle, it's essential to mix in the egg before the lemon. The acidity of the lemon acts on the yolk protein to thicken it; putting in the lemon first (which is tempting if you want to "add lemon to taste" without eating raw egg yolk) will cause the yolk to go "stringy" on contact.