Lemon Meringue Pie

Pastry:

3 tblspns butter and 2 tblspns sugar, creamed together well
1 egg yolk
4 tblspns Self Raising Flour
4 tblspns Cornflour



Method:


Add egg yolk and beat well, gradually add flour and mix well. Place on floured board and roll out with rolling pin to a thickness of roughly 5mm,line pie dish with pastry, place a piece of greaseproof paper over pastry, place some rice or pasta into the pastry and cook in moderate oven 170 degrees for around 30 minutes.



Filling:


Juice and rind of 2 large lemons
1 cup sugar
1 tblspn butter
3 egg yolks (reserve whites)
1 ½ cups water
1 tblspn cornflour
1 heaped tblspn custard powder



Method:


Combine all the ingredients into a saucepan, stir with wooden spoon until well mixed, then cook. Make sure stirring all the time until cooked and thick. The mixture will coat the back of a metal spoon when it is thickening, make sure you do continue to stir or it will stick to bottom of pan. Let this cool before adding to pastry case.



Meringue:
3 egg whites
4 tblspns sugar
½ tspn vanilla



Method: 

Beat egg whites until stiff, slowly adding  sugar and vanilla. When placing meringue on top of pie it can be done with a spatula to give a messy look with peaks over the top, please make sure there are no holes in the top of meringue, as it will deflate. Bake in moderate oven 150* until meringue is brown, usually 10 - 15 minutes depending on your oven.

This recipe was an all time favourite dessert on special occassions like birthdays, we used to love the tang from the lemon as it really comes through in the filling and then the meringue would add a soft velvety light taste. Serve on its own or with a scoop of icecream or even some strawberries.