In this video I will be showing you how to make this easy lemon meringue pie which was one of the citrus meringue pie tart challenges in botanical week of The Great British Bake Off Series 7, 2016. In this series I decided to bake two out of the three challenges.  The lemon curd pie filling recipe is delicious and can be made with other citrus fruits.

The technical challenge for botanical week of the Great British Bake Off series 7, 2016 was this beautiful and delicious Fougasse bread

For the sweet shortcrust pastry

• 225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 150g butter, chilled
• 25g icing sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten

For the lemon curd filling

• Grated zest and juice of 2 large lemons
• 45 grams cornflour
• 2 large egg yolks
• 75 grams caster sugar

For meringue topping

• 3 egg whites
• 120 grams caster sugar

Method

• For the pastry, measure the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the icing sugar. Add the egg and if necessary 2 tablespoons cold water, mixing to form soft dough.
  Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface to the thickness of a pound coin. Line a 23cm/9in fluted flan tin and transfer to the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
• Line the pastry case with non-stick baking paper and fill with baking beans or uncooked rice. Bake blind for 15 minutes, then remove the beans and paper and cook for a further 5 minutes to dry out the base. Set aside to cool a little before adding the filling.
• Reduce the oven to 170 Celsius.
• To make the lemon filling zest your lemons into a small and squeeze the juice into the same bowl.
• Add the cornflour and whisk it together.
• Boil 300 ml water in a pot and pour it into the bowl of lemon juice mixture, whisk together and then pour the mixture back into the pot and then put it back on the heat and stir until the mixture is thick.
• Remove from the heat and add in the sugar and egg yolks and mix.  Put it back on the heat and then whisk until thick, roughly for a minute.  Pour in a bowl and leave to one side.
• Make your meringue by putting your egg whites in a bowl and then whisk until soft peaks appear, then add a tablespoon of sugar at a time and whisk well between each tablespoon of sugar added until all the sugar is used up.
• Put a bit of the mixture between your fingers and it should feel smooth not crumbly.  If you tip the bowl upside down the meringue does not fall out and this also shows it is ready.
• Pour the lemon curd on your baked pastry and spread it and then pipe or spoon your meringue on top and then bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
• When ready put it on a cooling rack to cool and then remove the pastry case and use a cake lifter to lift the pie onto a serving plate and serve.

You can serve warm or cold.