Lemon Meringue Pie
Lemon Meringue Pie is one of my favourite desserts. I love both the taste and texture of it. I’ve updated this recipe to have a coconut oil pastry crust. It’s surprisingly good.
I first posted this recipe in 2017. At the time, I wasn’t happy with the pastry and I promised an update. Took my sweet time. As ever. This gluten-free lemon meringue pie is also dairy-free. The sweet pastry is made with coconut oil and almond milk rather than butter and whole milk. I love dairy. I just wanted to see what a coconut oil pastry case would taste like. It tastes kinda like those Nice biscuits and works surprisingly well the tangy lemon custard and soft fluffy meringue.
If you have never tasted Nice biscuits it’s important to know that they taste of coconut. So if you don’t like coconut at all, you probably won’t like the coconut oil pastry. But, if dairy isn’t a problem for you, you can easily swap butter for coconut oil, and whole milk for the almond milk. It works with a one to one substitution.
I don’t always like coconut but I like it in this so much that I’m going to make the coconut oil version of pastry for all my future lemon meringues.
The reason why I wanted to come up with a non-dairy version is because I rarely make lemon meringue pies these days. Even though it is one of my favourite desserts. Why? Because there is a similarly tangy dessert that is super simple and really difficult to mess up; Key lime pie. And a Key lime pie is made with condensed milk – so kind of hard to make a dairy free version. But you can swap out lemon for key limes and top with a meringue topping for an alternative (easier to make) lemon meringue pie.
And it’s so easy to mess up a lemon meringue pie.
The pastry is actually the easy bit. It’s so easy to mess up the rest of it. You have to be certain no yolk mixes in with the egg whites. Otherwise the meringue won’t form properly. Then when you’re thickening the lemon with the cornflour you really have to pay attention to what you’ doing or it can turn into rubbery lumps. You have to remember to cook the lemon custard after whisking in the hot thickened lemon juice into the yolks whipped up with sugar. Otherwise, the lemon custard will separate later. There are a lot of ways this recipe can go wrong. And I have experienced every one of them.
I love lemon meringue pies. But they demand that you watch what you’re doing the whole time. Which is not always my thing.
They are lovely though. So, do give this a go.
Ingredients
- 200g gluten-free plain flour
- 35g cornflour
- 25g golden caster sugar - or fine brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp finely ground salt
- 110g chilled coconut oil
- 1 medium-sized egg yolk
- 2 - 3 tbsp almond milk
- 3.5 lemons
- 200ml water
- 5 medium-sized egg yolks
- 75g cornflour
- 200g caster sugar
- 6 egg whites
- 4 tbsp caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract, optional
Instructions
- Separate the eggs: Carefully separate the eggs into clean, grease-free bowls. Cover the whites and yolks and set aside for later use.
- Combine dry ingredients: Sift the gluten-free flour, cornflour, brown sugar, and salt into the bowl of a food processor.
- Add in the chilled coconut oil. Pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Add one egg yolk and pulse to combine. Scrape down the sides to ensure even distribution, and pulse again.
- With the motor running, add the almond milk one tablespoon at a time. After each addition, process for 20 seconds or so. Stop as soon as a dough ball forms. 2 tablespoons may be enough or you may need 3 If the mix becomes a paste rather than a ball, don't worry—you can shape it by hand later.
- Remove the dough, shape into a disc, cover with clingfilm, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 9″ cake tin and line with baking paper.
- Shape: Roll out the dough or press it into the tin with your fingers (it’s fragile, so "smoosh" any tears back together).
- Line the pastry with baking paper and fill with baking beans. Bake for 12 minutes.
- Let the tin cool for 15 minutes before removing the beans and the paper liners.
- Make the Lemon Custard - Infuse: Zest two lemons. Simmer the zest in the water in a small saucepan for 10 minutes, then set aside.
- Cream yolks: In a deep bowl, whisk the remaining 5 egg yolks with 200g caster sugar until pale, fluffy, and buttery in color.
- Thicken lemon base: Juice the lemons and strain into a bowl with 75g cornflour; whisk until smooth. Strain the warm lemon-infused water into this mix and stir.
- Cook lemon base: Return this mixture to the saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk constantly until it suddenly thickens into a heavy paste. This takes a few minutes. You will think it will never happen and then it suddenly does. Once it thickens, remove the saucepan from the heat.
- Temper & Stabilize: To prevent curdling, slowly whisk 1/3 of the hot lemon paste into the cold egg-sugar mixture. Once tempered, stir the egg mix back into the remaining lemon paste in the saucepan.
- Finally, cook the lemon custard on the stovetop for 3–5 minutes, stirring constantly. This stabilizes the yolks to prevent the filling from separating later. Pour the custard into the baked pastry case.
- Make the Meringue - Turn the oven down to 160°C. Beat the 6 egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar, beating until the meringue is stiff and glossy. Fold in the cream of tartar and vanilla extract.
- Assemble: Pipe or spread the meringue over the hot lemon custard, ensuring it seals the edges of the crust.
- Bake and Set: Bake for 25 minutes until the meringue is golden.
- Cool: Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely at room temperature before slicing to ensure the custard is fully set.
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