Lemon meringue pie 1970s

I think Lemon meringue pie is very hard to get right – the pastry, the filling and the meringue can all go wrong! High level skill to try.

Ingredients
Pastry
175 g plain flour
20 g caster sugar
100 g butter or margarine
egg yolk and enough water to mix
Filling
2 lemons – zest and juice
Water
25g cornflour
25 g butter
75g caster sugar
2 egg yolks
Meringue
2 egg whites
100 g caster sugar

Method

1. Rub the butter into the flour caster sugar until it looks like breadcrumbs. Or use a food processor. Stir in the egg you and add enough water to make a firm dough. Chill for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas 6.
3. Line a 20 cm diameter flan tin with pastry, fill with paper and baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes.
4. Remove beans and paper and bake a further 5 minutes until pastry is crisp. Make sure there are no holes in the pastry for the filling to leach out.
5. Turn the oven down to 160°C/Gas 3.
6. Mix lemon juice with enough water to make 300ml.
7. Blend the cornflour with 2 tbs of the liquid, pour in a saucepan with zest, butter and sugar and cook and stir until thick – about 5-8 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
8. Whisk egg whites until stiff and add the sugar slowly and carefully.
9.  Stir the egg yolks into the lemon sauce and spoon into the pastry case.
10. Spoon over the meringue – you can lift into peaks with a fork.
11. Bake in the oven until the meringue is crisp and slightly golden – about 30-40 minutes.
12. Serve hot or cold.