Thursday 14 March 2013

Celebrate Pi Day with Lemon Meringue Pie!


I made this Lemon Meringue Pie a little while ago... Let’s say… 3 years now! It’s from my days when I wasn’t 100% sure how to make anything..

For some reason I also decided to bake the meringue part separately to the rest of the pie.

The problem with posting it now is that I don’t remember WHY... I’m sure I had a good reason for doing it!

My reason for posting it NOW is that today is PI Day. 14th March (3/14) is known as Pi Day... an annual celebration commemorating the mathematical constant π (pi).

If you want to also celebrate PI DAY with PIE, the recipe is below.

Lemon Meringue Pie
Recipe Adapted from Taste.com.au

Ingredients
1 ½ cup plain flour
125g butter, chilled, cubed
1 egg yolk
3 eggs
1/3 cup caster sugar
¾ cup thickened cream
150ml fresh lemon juice
3 egg whites
½ cup caster sugar (extra)

Method
Place flour and butter in a bowl and use your hands to mix the butter into the flour until it resembles fine crumbs. Add the egg yolk and mix until the pastry comes together.

On a lightly floured surface, gently knead the dough until just smooth.

Roll out the pastry until roughly 3mm thick. Line a tart pan with the pastry, trimming any excess around the edges.

Let the pastry rest in the freezer for 30 minutes and preheat your oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Bake the pastry for 20 minutes or until light golden.

Meanwhile, place eggs, caster sugar, cream and lemon in a bowl, whisk until well combined.

Remove cooked pastry from oven and reduce temperature to 160 degrees Celsius. Pour the filling into the warm pastry and return to oven for 30 minutes, or until filling is lightly set in centre.

In a clean dry bowl, use an electric beater to whisk egg whites until soft peaks form. Gradually add the extra caster sugar, a spoonful at a time, whisking until thick and glossy.

This is where I don’t remember what I did, but the recipe I have calls for you to let the pie rest for 1 hour, until cooled to room temperature AND THEN spread your meringue mixture on top, put back into the oven and cook, until the meringue it lightly golden.
I have a feeling that I was being incredibly impatient and wanted to eat the pie asap, so I cooked the meringue separately and then placed it on top of the pie.


If you want to follow what I did, draw a circle the size of your pie tin onto a piece of baking paper. Then PIPE your meringue onto the circle and place in the oven for about 10 minutes until lightly golden.

Once done, remove from the paper and place on top of your cooked pastry.

Let rest for a few minutes, and then EAT!! Perfect with a dollop of fresh cream, or even some vanilla ice-cream on a hot summer day.

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