Lemon Meringue Pie

It's one of my favourites! Shame on me that I haven't made it for too long.

Pastry
175 g of flour
90 g of chilled butter
~2 tbsp of icy cold water
A pinch of salt

Start from sifting flour and salt through a sieve in a mixing bowl. Add diced butter and rub it into the flour using only your fingertips until you get this texture:

Sprinkle with cold water and mix it using only a rounded knife tip until you form a stiff dough that leaves the bowl clean. Knead it a little at the end to make it even, wrap it and keep it in a fridge for at least a half an hour. This will prevent it from shrinking while baking.

When ready to bake, roll out the dough on a floured surface, fold it and transfer it into a pie tin. Prick the bottom with a fork and bake it for 15-20 minutes or until it's lightly browned in the oven that was preheated to 180C.

Filling
1/4 cup of cornstarch
3 tbsp of flour
1 cup of sugar
1/4 tsp of salt
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup of lemon juice
1 tbsp of grated lemon peel
1 tbsp of butter

In a saucepan, combine cornstarch, flour, salt, and sugar and mix it well. Add 2 cups of water and stir it until it's smooth. Bring it to a boil over medium heat and boil it stirring until it's shiny and translucent (for a couple of minutes). Remove the saucepan from the heat.

Take a spoon of the hot mixture and stir it quickly into slightly beaten egg yolks. Repeat it once more and then pour the yolk mixture into the saucepan and stir it well to blend. Return the saucepan to low heat, bring it to a boil and cook it for ~5 minutes while stirring. Remove it from the heat, add lemon juice [it was lime juice for me, which made it nice and sour the way I like it! :o)], lemon peel, and butter and stir it well. Pour the filling into the pie shell.

Meringue
4 egg whites
~1/2 cup of sugar

Keep the egg whites in the fridge until you are ready to make meringue. Beat the egg whites with a mixer at a medium speed until frothy. Gradually beat in the sugar adding a tablespoon at a time and beating after each addition. Finally, beat it at a high speed until stiff peaks form.

Spread meringue over the lemon filling sealing the edges of the crust and bake it for ~7-10 minutes in the 200C oven. The top should be golden brown, but the inside should not get dry - it tastes the best when it is moist and marshmallowy. Let it cool before serving.

Yummy in my tummy! :o)