The lemon meringue pie is a dessert made of crispy pie dough on which lies a tangy lemon cream covered with meringue. A perfect balance of textures and flavours. But rest assured, this dessert is not as complicated as it sounds. If you take your time and follow all of our directions, you're sure to succeed!
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Choosing the dough
Sweet dough? Shortbread dough? Shortcrust pastry? It's hard to know which dough is best suited to lemon meringue pie. Actually, all three are suitable. If you have to choose one, choose a sweet dough to make the day before (or to keep 30 minutes in a cool place) and lay it out thinly.
Perfect cooking
It is important to bake the pie dough without any filling to keep it crispy. The trick? Place baking balls or lentils on a sheet of baking paper spread over the dough. Then it will not swell up.
The lemon cream
To have a delicious lemon cream, prefer lemons bought in organic stores or that are untreated. They will taste better and the zest will not be too loaded with pesticides. Don't hesitate to add more zest than in the recipe to get a full-bodied and tangy cream.
The meringue
Meringue is not very complicated to make but it takes time. Beat the eggs to stiff peaks by adding icing sugar or sugar syrup until they are very shiny. This step can take about ten minutes. The key? Patience.
A nice finish
For your pie to be as beautiful as it is tasty, you have to take care of the finishing touches, i.e. the meringue. You have two options:
The first is to spread all the meringue coarsely over the pie in waves with a tablespoon or fork. If your meringue has been well beaten, the finish will be nice. A little imperfect side will give it a 'rustic' style.
The second is to spread the meringue with a piping bag. Opt for a smooth or fluted tip to make a nice pattern on your pie.
Finally, you can bake your pie in the oven for a few minutes to brown the meringue or use a kitchen blowtorch.
You don't like your pie? Don't panic! You can make verrines in the style of a lemon meringue pie by alternating layers of crispy dough, lemon cream and meringue. Your guests will love it...
