Lemon Meringue

RECIPES VICKI RAVLICH-HORAN | IMAGES ASHLEE DECAIRES

To be truthful, the classic lemon meringue is a tricky tart. The cook needs to master pastry and blind baking. While the filling is reasonably simple, you have to add meringue to be baked on top—no mean feat!

While I’m a fan of the tart lemon contrasted with the sweet meringue flavours, I personally think the traditional lemon meringue pie has room for many improvements, both as a cook and the eater. My version of a lemon meringue tart has a crumb base. And instead of having to bake the meringue in the oven, it’s piped on at the end, giving you more presentation options and a lot more chance at success.

Lemon Meringue Cake

The flavours of lemon meringue converted into a stunning cake which is, trust me, quite simple to make. Make the cakes and the lemon curd the day before then whip up the meringue the next day and put it all together.

CAKES

350g butter, softened 2 cups sugar 4 large eggs, at room temperature 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract (yes, tbsp!) 3 2/3 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder ¾ tsp baking soda 1 cup natural yoghurt ½ cup milk

Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the vanilla then fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the yoghurt and milk. Divide the batter evenly between three greased 23cm cake tins and bake at 170°C fan bake for 25–35 minutes. The edges of the cake should be coming away from the tin and a skewer inserted in the middle should come out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool completely before assembling.

MASCARPONE LEMON CURD

4 egg yolks 2/3 cup sugar 60g butter, chopped 2 tsp lemon zest 100ml lemon juice 1 cup mascarpone*

Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar before adding the remaining ingredients. Microwave for 45 seconds and then whisk for the same amount of time. Repeat this two more times until the curd is bubbling and thick. The curd will continue to thicken as it cools.

When completely cool, mix the curd with the mascarpone. *You could use whipped cream instead.

ITALIAN MERINGUE

4 egg whites, at room temperature 1 cup sugar 200ml water pinch cream of tartar

Put the sugar in a small pot along with the water and bring to a simmer. When the sugar has dissolved, increase the heat. Using a candy thermometer, measure the temperature. When it reaches 115°C, start to whisk the egg whites. Whisk the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and continue to beat until the whites form soft peaks. By this stage, the sugar syrup should have reached 130°C (or hard ball stage). While you continue to beat the egg whites, slowly drizzle in the sugar syrup and continue to beat for a further 20 minutes until the egg whites have cooled.

TO ASSEMBLE

If the cakes have risen unevenly trim them so they are all level. Place the first cake on your serving dish and spread half the mascarpone lemon curd on top, being careful not to get too close to the edges. Place the second cake on top and spread the remaining curd on this. Add the last cake on top and secure this by inserting a few skewers cut to size.

Finally, spread the meringue over the entire cake, using a small palette knife or the back of a spoon to create beautiful peaks and crevices. Just before serving, use a blowtorch to caramelise the peaks.

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Cheats Deconstructed Lemon Meringue

I was always told cheats never prosper but in this case they can definitely enjoy a delicious dessert.

Grab a packet of Amaretti biscuits from Vetro and crush a few. Use a jar of bought lemon curd (I used one from Hamilton Gardens) to smear on the plate or add some artistic dollops. Then for the meringue some beautiful baby store bought ones are perfect, or if you are like me and have some in the pantry from last time you had left over egg whites, now is the time to pull them out! Add a scoop of berry ice cream and some edible flowers and you have an easy but spectacular deconstructed lemon meringue dessert.

Lemon Meringue Tart

As a kid my grandfather would sprinkle cornflakes on top of our ice cream to give it a bit of crunch. And now, as an adult, I always have a packet on hand but admit it’s never for breakfast. Instead, these versatile crunchy morsels find themselves in my famous Afghans, and scrunched up to form crumbles, tart bases and even a savoury crumb.

PASTRY

11/3 cups flour 2½ cups cornflakes ½ cup icing sugar 125g butter, melted

FILLING

4 egg yolks 1x 395g can sweetened condensed milk ¾ cup lemon juice ½ cup cream

MERINGUE

½ quantity of Italian Meringue recipe from Lemon Meringue Cake on page 52

Make the pastry by placing the flour, cornflakes and icing sugar

in a food processor and whiz to fine crumbs. Add butter, and whiz until well combined.

Press into a lined 35cm by 12cm oblong (or alternatively a 25cm round) tin then chill for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Cover the chilled pastry with baking paper and pastry weights (or dry chickpeas/beans or rice) and bake blind for 25 minutes, then remove weights and paper and bake for a further 5 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and reduce temperature to 150°C.

To make filling, whisk yolks, condensed milk, lemon juice and cream in a bowl to combine. Pour into base. Bake for 45 minutes or until pastry starts to come away from filling and there is a slight wobble in the centre. Remove from the oven and set aside for 30 minutes to cool to room temperature. Chill until completely firm. Make the Italian meringue and pipe/spread this over the top of the tart. Use a blowtorch (or place under a preheated oven grill for 5 minutes) to caramelise edges. Serve and enjoy!

Essential Equipment

BLOW TORCH

To finish your meringue one of these hand blow torches is essential! They’ll also come in handy for creating the perfect crack on your crème brulee or if you are like me lighting birthday candles when you can’t find a match!

CANDY THERMOMETER

This inexpensive thermometer takes all the guess work out when making Italian meringue or any other recipe where you are bringing a sugar syrup up to a specific temperature.

Both available from great kitchen stores like www.sweetpeaparties.co.nz and www.thescullery.co.nz

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