Summertime – the mere mention of the word brings the anticipation of warmer weather, beautiful sunshine & of course, delicious treats. From homemade ice-cream to homegrown fruit, freshly plucked from the garden – everything tastes so much better at this time of year. No matter how old you are, there’s always something quite magical about growing your own produce & that taste is always exquisite!
Last year, I decided to try growing lemons from seed & although still small, they are now in bigger pots & sprouting happily (I’ll have to write a little blog on how I did it for those who wish to try too). Personally, the lemon is one of my favourite fruits for cooking & baking, both savoury & sweet, not to mention making homemade Limoncello! Plus, the squeezed halves are brilliant for cleaning ovens, stove tops & baking trays.
These deliciously refreshing fruits have been the centre stage of many a dessert too. Tarte au Citron Meringuée, otherwise fondly known as Lemon Meringue Pie, is a childhood favourite my Mum used to make. Heavenly clouds of fluffy meringue floating atop a softly luscious, lemon tart, all perfectly packaged in melt-in-the-mouth pastry. Summertime sweets always lift the spirits any time of year & this one is no exception!
There are only three stages to this delectable delicacy – pastry, filling & meringue. You cannot rush this, but it is pretty easy to make. If you wish, you can make the pastry case in advance & freeze it – line & fill it with crumpled up greaseproof paper, then pop in an airtight bag. The extra padding should help prevent any breakages.
This recipe makes a large (approx 10 inch) round tart 
or pie, or you can use a long tart tin like I have (loose-bottomed tins are best, as they make it easier to remove your pastry). It also works very well for a dozen individual tartlets – I use a deep patty tin or muffin tin.
Ready to bake it happen? Hands washed, aprons on & here we go!
What you need:
Pastry:
150g Plain Flour (plus extra for rolling out)
50g Salted Butter
50g Sugar
1 large Free Range Egg
1/4 teaspoon Vanilla Bean Paste
Half heaped teaspoon Baking Powder
Zest of half an Orange (washed & dried first)
Lemon Filling:
3 Egg Yolks
120g Sugar
25g Corn Flour
1 tablespoon approx Cold Water (to make a cornflour slurry)
128ml Boiling Water
Juice of 2 Lemons, freshly squeezed
Zest of 1 Lemon
Meringue Topping:
3 Egg Whites
120g Sugar
What to do:
Preheat the oven to 180*C. Prepare your tin – get a butter wrapper or greaseproof paper & smudge a little butter all around the inside of the tin. Dust with flour & tip out the excess onto your worktop (you can use this for rolling out). Pop the tray to one side.
Firstly, make the pastry. Tip the flour into a bowl with the baking powder & roughly cut the butter up into pieces, adding to the bowl. Rub the butter into the flour lightly with your fingertips – there should be nothing on those palms! Once you have a fine rubble, add the vanilla paste, egg, sugar & zest. Bring it all together to form a firm dough.
Dust your worktop with flour & roll out your pastry to the shape of your tin, making sure it is a couple of inches larger.
Carefully lift up your pastry using the rolling pin & drape over your tin. Make sure your pastry goes into all the edges of your tin & up the sides.
Trim off the excess pastry (you can freeze this – wrap in greaseproof & an airtight bag). Poke a fork into the pastry case all over to stop air from getting trapped underneath. At this stage, pop it into the fridge for about five minutes, just to firm up slightly (especially if it’s a warm day).
Crumple up a sheet of greaseproof paper that is slightly large than your tart tin. Uncrumple, lay on the inside of your pastry case & fill with baking beads or dry pasta shapes – make sure you get to all those edges again. Crumpling the paper makes it easier to shape to your pastry case.
Bake pastry case for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, carefully lift out the greaseproof with the (very hot) baking beads in it & set both aside on a cooling rack. Turn down the oven to 150*C.
Mix the cornflour with the cold water to make a loose white paste – a cornflour slurry. This is the thickening agent for your lemon tart filling. Set aside while we make the filling.
Put the egg yolks into a saucepan, along with 120g of the sugar, the lemon juice & zest. Add the boiling water & whisk well over a medium heat.
Bring to the boil, take off the heat & add the cornflour slurry, whisking thoroughly. Return to the heat briefly, keep whisking until thick & smooth (it takes a few seconds), then turn off the heat.
Tip the filling into your pastry case, smoothing quickly with a spoon or spatula to make a nice flat top.
Now to make the meringue topping! To make sure you get lovely thick meringue, here’s a tip my Mum taught me – take your clean bowl & give the inside a quick swipe around with half a lemon. This ensures your bowl is squeaky clean & will help your meringues form nicely.
Tip the egg whites into your nice clean bowl & whisk with an electric mixer until they start to foam lightly. Add a little of the sugar at a time, just a spoonful or so, whisking continuously on high. Once you have added all the sugar, give it a good whisk until firm & glossy. When you take the beaters out, you should have soft peaks in the meringue (like little stalagmites).
Take a piping bag & either add a large closed star nozzle or you can pipe it without. Pop your bag in a tall glass & fold the edges over the top – this will give you a steady base to fill your bag, without squishing it all over.
Whilst holding the glass, scoop meringue into the bag & only fill it halfway up – trust me, the fuller the bag means it’s harder to control & exploding meringue is not your mission here!
Remove the now half-filled bag from the glass, flatten the top to remove excess air & twist to keep it firm, then you’re ready to pipe. Tip: as you’re piping, keep the bag tight & pipe small amounts at a time. You can keep refilling your piping bag as you need to.
Make a pattern with the meringue all over the top of your tart – you can create whatever shapes you like. For the rosette swirls, point your tip down on the top of the tart & pipe a small splodge, then work your way outwards in a circular motion. If you make a mistake, carefully scoop it off & pop it back in your bag (this only works once or twice though).
Continue piping meringue patterns all over the top of your tart, until it’s completely covered – there will be plenty of meringue, so you get a beautiful cloudy topping.
Carefully place the tart into the oven & bake for approximately 15-20 minutes until delicately golden on the top & your meringue is lightly crisp (you should see where it’s set on the edges). If you want it a bit more golden, pop it back in the oven for another five minutes or so.
Once you’re happy with the colouring, remove from the oven & place on a cooling rack to cool completely. Now I know there are people who like to use a blow torch on this, but the oven method ensures the egg whites are cooked, not just randomly scorched.
Place in the fridge for about 30 minutes before serving. It’s best to eat this dessert on the day you make it & I suggest keeping any leftover slices in the fridge, but eat within 2-3 days as the pastry tends to lose it’s crispness.
Once cooled, simply slice & serve! Sometimes, I like to add a sprinkling of fresh lemon zest over the meringue just before serving for extra “lemonosity” (I know it’s not a word, but you know what I mean).
This delicious dessert is a perfect citrusy centrepiece for celebrations, as an alternative to cake, or simply as an impressive after dinner treat to share with family anytime. Remember, some clouds have a golden lining & it’s lemony! Enjoy & stay hungry! Aimée 😉 x