Lemon Meringue Tart

Here's the story behind making a lemon meringue tart.

Julius once recommended J to try a frozen Pampas lemon meringue pie which to my horror J liked and not only liked but finished the whole damn pie in one day.

I can understand why Julius likes the pie, it reminds him of his mum's version.

But J ? A frozen pie? The whole frozen pie?
Here's the real insult. J has never every finished any of my pies or tarts but he ate the whole bloody pampas.

I have nothing against Pampas but I do have something against frozen premade pies. They have thick crusts that are not usually baked enough and by the time you defrost it, it gets all soggy. At least if its a meat pie, you can reheat it but not a lemon meringue pie.

Anyway, Julius is here to help J with his work and I had to make a fresh one to prove my point.

I found a recipe on Joy of Baking which I like because she used whole eggs to make her filling rather than the usual egg yolks, lemon juice, zest and butter that is thickened with cornflour. Plus, when using cornflour, if it is not made properly, the gluggy, floury taste can be very unpleasant.

Another alternative is making a lemon curd which uses egg yolks, lemon juice, zest and butter which will produce a stronger more robust filling for the tart.



I loved this recipe. Here are a few pointers:

1. The tart case was baked longer than necessary. Until it was very golden brown. I hate nothing more than a uncooked tart case. In fact, I like it just where the fine line between cooked to slightly burnt is. You don't get the bitter burnt taste but you get the buttery crunch.

2.The sugar in the meringue was reduced by 25g because I felt it was abit too much.

3. I should have whipped my meringue just a minute longer, it did not have quite enough definition for me to pipe with the star nozzle. It has to be whipped to stiff peaks but not overwhipped till the point where it flakes.

4. It was the first time I used the grill for the oven and I burnt the meringue top because I didnt expect it to brown that fast.



All in all, I loved how the lemon filling turned out. It was light and foamy, even lighter than the meringue which was refreshing considering other lemon meringue pies I've had, the filling is usually much heavier than the meringue.

And J only had ONE BITE. Julius and myself finished the rest of the tart.

I Dont Understand.