Ok so this is how I made my lemon meringue pie in the video…. If you want to make Chloe’s version, it’s fairly self explanatory in the video!
Pre-heat the oven to 160fan/180C/350F/Gas 4.
Roll the pastry out with added flour if needed, get it thin but enough to handle. Drape into your pie dish. Press into shape delicately making sure not to stretch the pastry, trim excess off. place in the fridge for 30 mins to firm up, this helps to reduce it shrinking when baked. Once chilled, line the middle with a circle of baking parchment, fill with baking beads if you have them. Bake for 10-12 minutes with the beads in for the shape to firm up, then remove from the oven, take out the beads and baking parchment and bake for a further 5-7 minutes to cook the middle. Remove from the oven.
Whilst the pie is in the fridge chilling you can make the filling and topping quite quickly.
For the lemon curd filling stir the lemon zest, juice and cornflour together in a jug until dissolved. Get a large saucepan, fill with the water and bring to a simmer. Once the simmer is achieved, lower the heat and add the cornflour mixture, after a few seconds of stirring over the heat it will thicken up considerably! Keep stirring over the heat for another minute or so, then take off the heat. In a separate bowl mix the egg yolks and sugar together, it’ll be like a yellow sand like texture, push this into the saucepan with the cornflour mixture, stir well and the colour should change to a nice vibrant yellow – allow to cool whilst you make the meringue, warning if you eat this lemon filling there may not be much pie left!
For the meringue, whisk the egg whites with an electric whisk until soft peaks form, keep whisking as you slowly add in the sugar, this will help make it glossy, once all the sugar is added put the cornflour in too and whisk for a further minute.
With the cooked pastry ready from the oven, pour in the lemon curd mixture, then top with the meringue, making some shapes with it if you wish. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden on top, this may sometimes take a little less or longer depending on your oven so keep an eye on it!
Best served chilled in the fridge, enjoy!