Lemon Meringue Pie

This is a non-vegan recipe, the vegan version will use Aureate Artisan Foods Vegan Lemon Curd, a butter replacer for the pastry, and an aquafaba meringue on top. Stay tuned for when this recipe is released!

Ingredients

Pastry (either make it yourself using the recipe below, or use 350 - 450g of shop bought sweet shortcrust pastry)

  • 2 tablespoons white sugar

  • 4 egg yolks (save the whites for the meringue)

  • 125g salted butter, softened

  • 1 ¾ cups flour

  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

Filling

  • ⅓ cup cornflour

  • ¼ cup white sugar 

  • ¼ - ¾ cup lemon juice (use ¼ for a weaker lemon flavour, and ¾ for a stronger lemon flavour)

  • ¼ - ¾ cup water (to make up 1 cup of liquid with the lemon juice)

  • 1 x 300g jar of Aureate Artisan Foods Lemon Curd

  • Optional: if you are using fresh lemons, you can finely zest 1-2 lemons and add 1-2 tablespoons of zest (depending how lemony you like it)

Meringue

  • 4 egg whites

  • ⅔ cup caster sugar

Method

Pastry

If you don’t have a food processor: rub the butter into the flour (just like making scones) and then mix in the other ingredients until you have a stiff dough, add a tablespoon of water or two if necessary.

If you have a food processor: combine the sugar and egg yolks in a food processor until pale and frothy. Add the butter, flour, baking powder and salt. Process until the mixture clumps together in a ball, add a tablespoon of water or two if necessary. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll out the chilled pastry (or bought pastry) into a round shape the same diameter as a quiche or pie tin, with a few centimeters extra to line the sides of the tin. Press into the base and up the sides of the tin and prick with a fork. Chill again for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Blind bake pastry crust (cover with baking paper and add pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice) for 10 minutes, and then 10 more minutes without the baking paper and pie weights until golden and crisp. Make the filling while this bakes.

Filling

Mix cornflour and sugar in a small bowl and add liquid (lemon juice and water to make up 1 cup liquid) a tablespoon at a time, mixing well each time to make a smooth paste. Mix in all of the liquid and transfer to a small pot. Heat until bubbling for 3 minutes, stirring constantly until thick. Turn off heat and immediately mix in the Aureate Artisan Foods Lemon Curd.

Remove the pie crust from the oven, and reduce the oven temperature to 160ºC. Add the lemon filling to the pie crust and smooth it to a level surface.

Meringue

Whisk the egg whites until foamy, and then start adding the sugar a tablespoon at a time. Beat until stiff peaks form.

Pile onto the pie filling, spreading it to cover the filling. Bake for 20 minutes at 160ºC, or until golden. Remove from the oven and chill before serving. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.