Recipe: Individual lemon meringue pots—or cheat's lemon meringue pie! [Vegetarian, easy, light]
A really good lemon meringue pie should have a nice biscuity pastry base, topped with a really tangy lemon filling and sweet, cloud-like meringue, slightly undercooked, but with a crispy shell. This recipe is a really exceptionally easy way to achieve most—if not all—of those things; but I've called it cheat's lemon meringue pie because frankly these delicious little pots are really only a nod to the actual thing, which would take quite a bit more effort. You'll need small cups (I used a coffee can) to assemble the pies in, but it really doesn't matter how big or small they are.The recipe I've given below was enough for me to do two individual pots. As always, do as I say and not as I did because in the video (when it comes out) I only made half as much lemon filling.
The recipe:
Ingredients (serves 2):
(For the filling:) 2 x egg yolks 150g butter 3 tbsp sugar Juice and zest of a lemon
(For the meringue:) 1 x egg white 90g caster sugar
(For the biscuit base:) 2 x tea biscuits 1 knob of butter, melted
Method:
1. Start by making the lemon filling so it has time to cool. In a pan on a very low heat, combine all the ingredients for the lemon filling. Stir occasionally until the butter has melted, when steam starts to rise of the surface stir it continuously until it thickens to the consistency of runny honey. Take it off the heat and set aside.
2. In a plastic bag (or a clean tea towel), bash the biscuits until they are crumb sized. Then, in a bowl, stir the melted butter through the biscuit crumbs. Distribute this mixture across the bottom of the cups and refrigerate until need.
3. Now make the meringue. In a clean bowl, beat the egg white. Once it starts foaming, keep beating and slowly add the sugar. Beat until you achieve stiff peaks and a shiny, glossy look.
4. Heat the oven to 200C. We can now assemble the pies: divide the lemon mixture between the cups. Then, heap the meringue on top so that you have a nice dome.
5. Place in the oven until just golden on top and crisp. Alternatively, they can be grilled if your salamander allows them to be placed at some distance from the element, this will give the meringue underneath a chance to cook before the tops get too caramelised.
Tips: everything except the meringue can be made several days in advance. The complete pies can be made and cooked up to a day in advance.