It’s July – Time for Pie!
I wanted to kick off with lemon meringue pie. It’s been one of my favourites for nearly 30 years, and in more recent times I have surprised and delighted friends and family by making raspberry meringue pie instead of lemon. There are so many great options, as I have learned in this most recent baking experience. Not only did I make lemon and raspberry filling for my little mini meringue pies, but I also tried out strawberry and blueberry as well. They are pretty delicious.
Lemony goodness
The pie is also really simple. It has an amazing shortcrust pastry which you can make in a food processor or mixer, a lovely bright flavoured filling, and soft meringue which is baked on top of the pie.
Blueberried up!
The recipe below makes one 28cm pie, or 20 muffin pan sized mini pies. If you are making the mini pies, just make half the quantity of meringue. If you want to do as I have done and make five mini pies of each flavour, just make one quarter of the filling recipe and one half of the meringue recipe. You will have a little bit more filling than you can use. I ate it!
Strawberry fields forever
Lemon meringue pie (or berry meringue pie!)
Lemon shortcrust pastry
ingredients
185g butter, cubed
2 cups flour
2 tbsp icing sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1-2 tbsp iced water
mixing
In a mixing bowl of a stand mixer or a food processor, mix or process the butter and flour and icing sugar until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the lemon juice and half of the iced water and mix or process until clumps of pastry start to form. If necessary, add the rest of the water. Mix or process only until the mixture starts to clump together. After that, use your hands to press the mixture into a ball, flatten the ball and wrap in cling wrap. Try not to over mix or over handle the pastry because this will lead to it being tough. Let the pastry rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to about 3 mm thick. If making mini pies, cut 20 8cm rounds and press then gently into clean muffin pans. You won’t be able to cut all 20 rounds at once, so when you have done the first set, stack all the offcuts one on top of the other and gently form back into a lump, taking care not to over work the pastry. Roll this out again and cut more rounds. Repeat if necessary.
If making a large pie, carefully roll the pastry on to the rolling pin to make it easier to transport without breaking, and lift the pastry over the 28cm flan tin or pie dish. Carefully unroll the pastry across the pie dish and gently press in to the edges. Trim off the excess pastry with a sharp knife.
Making mini pies
Prick the pastry very well with a fork. There should be a prick mark at least every 3 to 5 mm across the surface of the pastry, including the walls. This is very important – this pastry loves to puff up where it shouldn’t. If you have time, return the formed pastry to the refrigerator until cold.
Bake the pastry for about 15 to 20 minutes at 180°C, or until the pastry is golden. If you find that the pastry is puffing up too much during the baking process, you can remove the half cooked pastry from the oven and press the puffed parts gently down with the back of a dessert spoon, then return to the oven until golden. Let the pastry cool. If making a large pie, leave the pastry case in the tin. If making mini pies, remove the cold pastry cases from the muffin tins and set on a baking sheet.
Lemon filling
ingredients
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornflour
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup lemon juice
1 1/4 cup water
2 tsp grated lemon rind
4 egg yolks
90 g butter, cubed
mixing
Combine the flours, sugar, lemon juice, water and grated lemon rind in a large saucepan and cook over medium, staring all the mixture starts to thicken and then boils. Address the heat and simmer the mixture for a further two minutes, stirring all the time. Remove from the heat and quickly stir in the egg yolks, followed by the butter. Let cool. When the mixture is cool, spread it into the pastry case. If you are making mini pies, you may have a little more mixture than you need.
Raspberry, Blueberry or Strawberry filling
ingredients
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cornflour
1 cup sugar
400g raspberries, blueberries or strawberries
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup water
1 tsp vanilla
4 egg yolks
40 g butter, cubed
mixing
Combine the flours, sugar, crushed berries, lemon juice, water and vanilla in a large saucepan and cook over medium, staring all the mixture starts to thicken and then boils. Address the heat and simmer the mixture for a further two minutes, stirring all the time. Remove from the heat and quickly stir in the egg yolks, followed by the butter. Let cool. When the mixture is cool, spread it into the pastry case. If you are making mini pies, you may have a little more mixture than you need.
Meringue
ingredients
4 egg whites
3/4 cup caster sugar
pinch salt
mixing
Beat the egg whites, sugar and salt together in a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer if you’re not so lucky!) until all the sugar is dissolved and a shiny, creamy meringue forms (about 5 minutes).
The meringue
Spread or pipe the meringue on the top of the pie.
Bake the pie again at 180°C for about 5-7 minutes, until the edges of the meringue are lovely and golden.
Yum! I hope you love them! Try all the flavours to see which you like best – for me the blueberry is a new favourite!
Razzberry!
Enjoy!xxx
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