The lemon pie is a subtle blend of sweet flavors mixed with a hint of acidity. It is one of the essentials of French pastry, and with this recipe for lemon pie, it is guaranteed success …
Lemon pie
Equipment
- 22 cm diameter pie ring
Ingredients
- 300 g sweet dough See the sweet dough recipe
- 30 cl lemon juice
- 200 g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 4 egg yolks
- 25 g cornflour
- 150 g butter
Italian meringue :
- 4 egg whites
- 240 g caster sugar
- 6 cl water
Instructions
- To start, we must make the bottom of the pie with sweet dough in a 26 cm diameter metal ring which you need to butter.
- As the sweet dough comes out of the refrigerator, you need to knead it with the palm of your hand to soften it.
- Flaten the dough progressively with a rolling pin, in both directions, until you obtain a thickness of 3 mm.
- Wind the dough around the rolling pin then put it on the metal ring.
- Push down the dough and create an edge all around the metal ring by pressing it.
- Use the rolling to remove the surplus of dough, then pinch the dough against the ring. Slide your finger around to ease the unmoulding.
- Put the pie on greaseproof paper, then on a baking tray. Leave it to rest for one hour in the refrigerator.
- Place a baking sheet and fill the pie with marbles for baking or dry beans, then blind bake the pie in an 180 °C oven for 15 to 20 min.
- As for the lemon cream, put the lemon juice in a saucepan and bring it to the boil.
- In the meantime, pour the egg yolks in a bowl, add the eggs and the caster sugar, then whisk everything together to whiten the mixture. Add the cornflour and whisk again.
- When the lemon juice is boiling, pour it on the mixture while mixing, then put everything back into the saucepan. Heat the cream until one minute after the first bubbles.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat, and leave it at room temperature for a few moments before adding the butter. It will then keep its creaminess.
- After the baking of the pie, remove the baking sheet and the marbles, then bake again in the oven for a few minutes. After that, put the pie on a metal grid and leave it to rest.
- Add the butter into the cream, and mix everything until the butter is completely melted in it. The cream becomes smooth.
- Put the pie on a display tray, remove the metal ring, then fill the baked dough with the lemon cream which you spread everywhere. Leave the pie in the refrigerator for one hour or so.
- Pour the sugar in a small saucepan, add some water and mix. Bring it to the boil and keep heating until 1210C, using a sugar thermometer to control the temperature.
- When the temperature reaches 116 °C, start whisking the egg whites. Then, when the sugar reaches 121 °C, stop heating, and after a few seconds, pour the syrup on the whites.
- Keep whisking until the meringue is completetely cooled down.
- For the setting, use a pastry bag fitted with a tip called "Saint-Honore", and put the meringue on the pie as shown on the screen.
- To color the meringue, I suggest you to use a blowtorch or to put the pie a few minutes under the grill.
The video is in French, but you can see the English subtitles.Remember to enable them in the YouTube settings.