Ingredients:
For the pastry:
110g white flour
50-75g butter
pinch of salt
1 egg yolk (keep white aside for meringue)
2 tbsp cold water
lemon curd
For the lemon curd:
100g caster sugar
50g butter
finely grated rind and juice of 2 lemons
2 eggs and 1 egg yolk (keep whites aside for meringue)
For the meringue:
2 egg whites (from above)
110g caster sugar
Method:
First Make the Pastry:
Sieve the flour with the salt cut the butter into cubes and rub into the flour with the fingertips. Keep everything as cool as possible. Stop when the mixture looks like coarse breadcrumbs.
Whisk the egg and add the water. Take a fork and add just enough liquid to bring the pastry together. Cover with cling film for half an hour if possible, which will make it easier to roll out.
Line a 9 inch round tin with the pastry and chill again for 15-20 minutes, line again with paper and fill with dried beans. Bake blind for 25 minutes, 180°C. The pastry case must be almost fully cooked. Remove paper and beans, paint with a little lightly beaten egg white and put back into the oven for 5 minutes approx.
Meanwhile, make the lemon curd.
On a very low heat melt the butter, add castor sugar, lemon juice and rind and then stir in well-beaten eggs. Stir carefully over a gentle heat until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Draw off the heat and pour into a bowl (it will thicken as it cools.) Fill the pastry case with the lemon curd mixture.
Make the meringue:
Whisk the egg whites in a perfectly clean dry bowl, until they begin to get fluffy, then add 50g caster sugar and continue to whisk until they form stiff peaks, fold in the last 50g caster sugar and then either pipe or spread over the lemon mixture with a spoon.
Turn the oven down to 130°Cand bake for about 1 hour until the mixture is crisp on the outside. Serve warm or cold. Alternatively, cook at 210°C for 7 minutes.
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