Dad's Lemon Meringue Birthday Pie!

Usually when making a birthday cake for my dad, it involves coffee, hazelnut and chocolate, but this year he wanted something different, something zesty for spring! He even suggested lemon meringue pie himself........ suited me that I didn't have to come up with the idea this time! :)

I used Rachel Allen's recipe for Seville Orange Meringue Pie, but replaced the orange curd with my own homemade Lemon Curd and it turned out wonderfully , if I do say so myself haha

Recipe:
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
300g plain flour, 150g butter, 1tbsp icing sugar, 1egg and a tiny dash o milk
Whizz the flour sugar and butter in a food processor until it looks like breadcrumbs. Beat the egg and the little bit of milk and add to the flour mix. Whizz briefly again until it just about comes together. Flatten the mix into a ball of dough and wrap in cling film and pop in the fridge to chill for 30mins.

Lemon Curd
150g caster sugar, 75g butter, juice and rind of 3 lemons, 2 eggs + 1egg yolk
Put the sugar butter juice and rind in a pot over a low heat, until the butter is melted. Beat the eggs and extra yolk together and pour into the sugary mixture in the pot. MAKE SURE ITS LOW HEAT OR YOU'LL HAVE LEMON SCRAMBLED EGGS :) :) Keep stirring until it thickens and when its done it'll coat the back of a teaspoon. Set aside and leave to cool slightly

Meringue Top
4egg whites and 225g Caster sugar
In a spotless bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff, then beat in the caster sugar bit by bit until stiff peaks form. When the meringue is whisked enough you should be able to turn the bowl upside down and it'll stay in it. I like to do this over my brothers head haha as you can see!!

Preparing the Pie
Grease a tart dish, and line with the pastry. Bake blind for 20 mins at 180C. Then turn down the oven to 150C. Pour the lemon curd onto of the par baked pastry, and spoon the meringue on top. Smooth the meringue, and with a knife use a dabbing technique to create peaks. Bake for a further hour at the lower temperature. Serve warm or room temperature and obviously with a bit of whipped cream :) YUMMO!