I love a good lemon meringue pie. With a thin and crispy pie crust, a thick and sharp lemon fillinf and a light and fluffy meringue. I’m not so keen on the baked meringue; I want the fluffy Italian kind.

My mother is probably slightly to blame for my obsession as I have sampled plenty of lemon meringue pies with her, both in cafés and at home. And it’s also her trusted recipe I use for the filling and the crust. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Lemon meringue pie, serves 8

Pastry:

180 g plain flour

100 g softened butter

2 1/2 tbsp cream or water

Lemon filling:

350 ml water

240 g caster sugar

6 tbsp corn flour

2 lemons (zest and juice)

3 egg yolks

2 tbsp butter

Italian meringue:

4 egg whites

120 g caster sugar

Syrup:

120 g caster sugar

100 ml water

Mix all the ingredients to the dough in a bowl or using a food processor. Press into a Ø 20 cm springform. Bake in a low oven at 180C, for approx 10-15 minutes or until golden and baked through. Leave to cool. 

Add all the ingredients for the filling, apart from the butter, in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and stir continuously until the mixture has thickened. Remove from heat and mix in the butter. Leave to cool completely. 

Make the meringue: Add egg whites and sugar to a clean bowl and beat for 10 minutes with an electric whisk. Meanwhile make the syrup by adding water and sugar to a saucepan and bring to the boil (don’t stir). Remove when 118C (the boiling point for sugar). Add the hot syrup to the meringue and beat for a further 15 minutes, until you have a thick and glossy meringue. 

Assemble: Remove the crust from the tin. Fill with the lemon filling, spreading it evenly. Spread the meringue on top and burn the edges with a brulee torch. Serve with lightly whipped cream.