Lemon Meringue Pie - Chef Recipe by Larissa Takchi

Ingredients

Lemon Sweet Shortcrust Pastry:

280g plain flour
90g icing sugar
Pinch of salt
Finely grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
135g cold unsalted butter, diced
1 egg
1 egg yolk

Lemon Curd:

3 eggs
1 egg yolk
160g caster sugar
150mL lemon juice (from about 4 juicy lemons)
Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
160g softened butter

Italian Meringue:

300g of egg whites
600g sugar
300mL water

Method

Place the flour, icing sugar, salt and lemon zest in a mixing bowl and, using your fingertips, crumble in the butter until you have fine sandy texture.

Add the egg and yolk and mix again until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it briefly with your hands to bring it together.

Form a flattish disc shape and glad wrap. Refrigerate for 45 minutes. Remove from the fridge and roll out the dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured workbench, roughly 2mm thick. Place on baking paper and refrigerate again for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 170 C. Remove the pastry from the fridge and place over a round 28cm non-stick tart tin, trim the excess pastry. Allow to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes. Blind bake the tart for 20 minutes until cooked. Remove the baking beans and return to the oven for 3 minutes to dry out. Allow to cool and carefully remove the pastry from the tin.

For the lemon curd, whisk eggs, yolk and sugar in a heatproof bowl to just combine, then whisk in juice and rind. Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not allow the water to boil) and lightly whisk mixture to stop curd cooking too quickly around the edge of the bowl until it reaches 85 C on a sugar thermometer or thickens to the consistency of whipped cream (25-30 minutes).

Cool until just tepid (40 minutes), then add the butter a little at a time, whisking well between additions. Pour the lemon curd into the baked tart shell. Place in the fridge to set for 4 hours.

For the meringue, place the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Place a sugar thermometer in the pot and allow cooking to 121 C, placing a lid or bowl on top of the pot.

When the syrup reaches 118 C, place the egg whites in a stand mixer bowl and start whisking on medium speed. Once the syrup is cooked to 121 C, slowly stream in the stand mixer continuously whisking. Whisk for 10 minutes until thick and glossy.

Remove the tart from the fridge and pile up the meringue on top. Using a spatula, create your own style with the meringue with peaks and swirls.

Blow torch the meringue until toasted.

Credits: Larissa Takchi

Photo Credits: Larissa Takchi