Saturday 23 January 2016

Is there anything more versatile than a lemon?

I may struggle with using yellow in my designs, and you might require a great deal of patience to find yellow in my home decorating, but I guarantee you'll always find a bowl of lemons on the kitchen bench or in my fridge.

I use lemons in all our fresh juices, and I grate the zest into most of my sweet bakes and quite often in stews and soups. Tangy lemons are my kitchen staple, and if I have less than four on hand they'll be the first bag of produce in my basket next grocery day. 

We're pretty health conscious at home so I alter or create recipes to suit that plan on a daily basis, but this doesn't mean we forgo our old family favourites or comfort foods - it just means we only enjoy them occasionally. I think when you only have those 'oldies but goodies' sporadically you slowly savour every spoonful with delightful pleasure, and for me it's especially good when that comfort food treat is loaded with lemon!

Such was the case a couple of weeks ago.
Darling daughter Blossom arrived for Sunday dinner with her beloved and I surprised her with a lemon meringue pie for dessert. She knew about the corned beef and mash main course (her request) but squealed with delight at what would follow afterwards. No matter that she's almost 22, her little girl happiness at eating mama's food has never waned so my heart was filled to bursting all over again.

We thought you might like the recipe?
It's very easy, really. 


BASE:

Crush a packet of plain sweet biscuits/cookies (such as Ginger Nuts, Nice, McVitties or Graham crackers depending where you are in the world) to a breadcrumb consistency in a food processor.

Melt 1/3 cup of butter and mix through the biscuit crumbs.
Press the crumb mix into the base of a pie plate - oval, round or square, it doesn't matter.
Pop it in the fridge while you make the filling.

Pre-heat the oven to 180c (375f)

 FILLING:

Beat together for 1 minute -
3 egg yolks (no whites)
1 400g can condensed milk
grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

MERINGUE:

Beat 3 egg whites until they are stiff and can hold their shape.
Gradually pour in 1/2 cup castor sugar, a spoonful at a time, whilst still beating.
When all the sugar has been incorporated into the egg white and the meringue is white and glossy, it's ready for the final step.

BAKE:

Remove the prepared biscuit base from the fridge.
Pour the filling over the biscuit base, then spread the meringue across the top.
Bake in the middle of the oven for about 6-8 minutes.
As soon as the meringue peaks show a golden brown colour it's time to remove your pie from the oven.

Leave to cool and set in the fridge for around 3-4 hours.
Enjoy!

If you'd like to download this recipe and print or save you will find it HERE.

hugs


8 comments:

Águeda said...

Oh, Jenny, Thank you very munch! I was see your lemon cake in your other blog, and I was believed I can't ask the recipe because is a your family secret treasure :) But , now you gift your recipe. You do my very happy. Thank you very much. And my family,more thank you too :))

Nanna Chel said...

Well there you go, Jenny. I didn't realise you had a food blog as well. I love the look of the lemon meringue pie. Hmmm, I wonder if there is a variation with no sugar. Somehow I don't think so :-(

Christina said...

This looks great. I love the idea of using cookies for a crust. Thank you.

Kathleen said...

This sounds delicious!! I have a question regarding the condensed milk. Would that be sweetened condensed milk, or evaporated milk? I'd hate to ruin this recipe on my first try. Thank you for sharing! This sounds like a good Sunday treat to take to my brother-in-law's house. We always go there after church for coffee and conversation.

Ingrid said...

Dios!!! Debe ser super delicioso. Este fin de semana lo haré! Mil gracias por compartir. No todo es bordado y costura, jejeje. Un abrazo desde Venezuela!

Anonymous said...

That's exactly how my mother made it, and it is so good. Most people here make something with gelatin rather than condensed milk, but I still stick with the milk. It used to be on the back of the label of Eagle Brand condensed milk, but I haven't made it in a while, so I'm not sure. Thanks for the reminder. It looks like it works well in the square pan, which I have more of, so I may put a can on the grocery list and make one soon!

Jackie said...

Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!

Anonymous said...

That reminds me of my mother's lemon meringue pie, and I wish I had some right this minute!