This biscuit base lemon meringue pie is an easy take on a classic dessert. With just 7 ingredients, it’s crunchy cookie crust, perfectly tangy lemon filling and fluffy cloud-like meringue topping, this easy dessert will disappear in no time.Important! This pie can take up to 6 hours to cool completely.
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
food processor
pie dish or 9 inch fluted tart tin with removable base
Balloon whisk
heavy base saucepan
stand mixer or electric hand mixer
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180C / 350F / 160c fan forced.
Separate your eggs. Keep one egg white aside and put the rest of the egg whites together in the fridge. The yolks can stay out at room temp too.
Process the biscuits to crumbs in a food processor. Whisk the single egg white so that it's a little frothy then add it along with the melted butter to the biscuit crumbs. Mix or process until well combined and it looks like wet sand.
Tip the crumbs into a 9 inch removable base tart tin and level them out. Use a flat bottomed glass to press them down firmly all over and up the sides. It will seem too crumbly but it will come together - see notes for tips.
Place the tart tin on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes. Set aside.
FOR THE FILLING: Combine sugar, cornflour and salt in a saucepan, then pour in the lemon juice and water. Whisk well to combine. Place over medium heat. Cook, whisking regularly so you don't get lumps, until you have a thick gel with big bubbles popping all over the surface.
Take it off the heat and add butter and zest, mix until melted and fully combined. While whisking vigorously, tip in the yolks and whisk well until fully combined - this is important so the yolks don't scramble in the hot gel.
Place the saucepan back over the heat and cook for a further minute or until the temperature reaches 71C / 160F on a digital or instant read thermometer.
Pour lemon filling into base then let it cool at room temperature for 30 minutes to set up a bit. This will make it easier to spread the meringue. Keep in mind, the filling should still be warm when you add the meringue so get straight onto making that.
FOR THE MERINGUE: I find a stand mixer with whisk attachment easiest for making meringue.
Whisk egg whites in clean glass bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer on medium-high speed, until soft peaks.
Sift over the cornflour and mix on low to combine. Turn the mixer up to medium and add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, counting to 20 seconds after each addition.
Once all the sugar is in, give the bowl a scrape down the sides with a spatula to get any sugar crystals that may be stuck there. Now beat on high until the meringue is glossy with stiff peaks and rubbing a little between your fingers, you can't feel any sugar grains.
Scoop the meringue out onto the filling and gently press out a little towards the sides, keeping a hill in the middle. Make sure to go all the way to the sides though, touching the crust. Create peaks or a swirly pattern with your spatula.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden on top. If you want that nice toasted look, you can use a kitchen blow torch once the meringue has cooled, to add some toasty effect.
Let it cool for 2 hours at room temperature, then place in the fridge uncovered to cool completely (3-4 hours) before you slice it. As long as your meringue is all the way to the edges, it will be fine in the fridge overnight like this.
Notes
The biscuit base will seem like a lot of crumbs and will seem crumbly but as long as you keep pressing it evenly and firmly it will hold together. Once baked the egg white will keep it firmly together. When pressing up the sides, hold your thumb or finger over the top of the crumbs at the edge, pressing down at the same time the glass is pressing up against the sides - this will make the sides hold nicely.
To get nice slices, this pie must be completely cooled before you cut it. If not, the biscuit crust is fragile and can break.
Biscuits / cookies: You can use any plain sweet biscuits / cookies. Graham crackers work well. Arnotts Marie, Milk Coffee and Arrowroot are all great. I find digestives to strong a flavour though.
Gluten free: For a gluten free lemon meringue pie, use gluten free cookies and cornflour.
Have you tried this recipe?Don't forget to leave a rating and comment below and let me know how it was! I love hearing from you. Nutrition information is approximate and derived from an online calculator. The brands you use may cause variations.