Individual Mini Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe

Individual or mini lemon meringue pie or tartlet with Italian meringue.

Individual Mini Lemon Meringue Pie Recipe

Lemon meringue pie was a real treat when I was growing up, and still is one of my favourite desserts. These mini individual pies are designed for the smaller family or greedy couple... My wife and I are the latter ;)

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword individual lemon meringue pie, lemon meringue pie, lemon meringue tart, lemon meringue tarts

Prep Time 1 30

Cook Time 1

Total Time 2 30

Servings Pies

Calories 871kcal

Author Brian Jones

Ingredients

For the Pastry:

225 g Plain Flour 1¾ Cups
175 g Butter ¾ Cup
50 g Icing Sugar ½ Cup
1 Large Egg

For the Lemon Custard:

3 Large Egg Yolks
125 g Sugar ½ Cup + 2 tablespoon
3 Lemons (zest and juice)
35 g Cornflour ¼ Cup (cornstarch in the US)
225 ml Water 1 Cup minus 1 tablespoon

For the Meringue:

175 g Sugar ¾ Cup + 2 tablespoon
90 ml Water ⅓ Cup + 1⅓ Cup + 1 tablespoon tablespoon
3 Large Egg Whites

Instructions

Place the flour and the butter for the pastry in a food processor and pulse until you arrive at a wet sand/breadcrumb texture.
Add in the egg and powdered sugar and blitz until a ball is formed, wrap in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
After the pastry has chilled, roll it out to 3mm-4mm (⅛") thick on a floured work surface.
Cut out a circle wide enough to fill your four tart cases with lots of overhang.
Line the tart cases (10cm or 4") using a spare bit of pastry to push into the corners without stretching the pastry too much. Then place them in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
Heat the oven to 180°C or 350°F, then line the pie cases with baking parchment and pour in some baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the parchment and beans and bake for another 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before trimming the excess pastry and turning the oven down to 170°C or 340°F
Bring the 225ml of water to the boil on the stove, and whilst it is coming to temperature, whisk together the cornflour, lemon zest and lemon juice.
When your water is boiling, reduce the heat and whisk in the cornflour and lemon mix until it begins to thicken; this should take 2-3 minutes.
When this is done, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar for the lemon custard and pour in a little of the hot lemon mix to loosen.
Now pour the loose egg mix into the lemon and cornflour mix and keep on whisking for 3-4 minutes.
Decant this lemon mixture into your pie cases and bake for 15 minutes or until set.
Finally, we are going to make an Italian meringue, put 90ml of water and 180g of sugar in a pan, and bring it to a rolling boil, or softball as it is known. You will need a sugar thermometer for this, and cook until it reaches 117°C or 240°F.
Whilst this is happening, whisk your egg whites in a stand mixer.
Once your sugar syrup reaches temperature, pour it into the egg whites as they are being whisked and continue to whisk on high until they cool.
Place the cooled meringue into a piping bag and decorate your tarts.
Place the pies under the grill (broiler) to caramelise or use a blow torch, I prefer the latter.

Nutrition