MKR Recipes Episode 5: Lol and Lil’s Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients

Dried lemon slices, to decorate

Sponge Cake

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today

125g self-raising flour

½ tsp baking powder

125g butter, at room temperature

125g caster sugar

2 eggs

40ml milk

Lemon curd

4 gold strength gelatine leaves

440g caster sugar

200g butter, chopped

4 eggs, lightly whisked

2 tbs finely grated lemon rind

250ml lemon juice

Pastry

185g plain flour

40g icing sugar

125g unsalted butter, chopped

1 egg yolk

2 tsp iced water

Sugar Glaze

50g sugar

50ml water

2 tbs glucose syrup

Meringue

2 egg whites

110g caster sugar

60ml water

Method

1. Lightly grease six holes of a 160ml capacity silicone loaf pan with vegetable oil.
2. Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 20cm square cake pan. Line with baking paper.
3. To make sponge cake, combine flour and baking powder in a bowl.
4. Place butter and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Whisk until pale and creamy, scraping down sides as necessary. With motor operating, add eggs one at a time until combined. Add flour mixture and milk and fold to combine. Spoon mixture into prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 20 minutes or until firm to touch. Cool in pan.
5. Remove cake from pan and cut out six small rectangles, slightly smaller than the dimensions of your silicone pan holes. Reserve remaining cake for another use.
6. To make lemon curd, soak gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes or until soft.
7. Place the sugar, butter and eggs in a saucepan. Add the lemon rind and juice. Cook, stirring, over medium heat for 5 mins or until the mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat. Squeeze excess water out of gelatine leaves and add to curd. Stir until melted and combined. Strain the curd through a fine sieve into a bowl. Cover surface with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature. Transfer to a piping bag.
8. Half fill the six prepared silicone mould pan holes with lemon curd. Add sponge rectangles. Top with curd. Freeze until firm enough to unmould easily.
9. Line a large oven tray with baking paper.
10. To make pastry, process flour, icing sugar and butter until crumbly. Add egg yolk and enough of the water until a dough comes together. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 30 minutes.
11. Roll out dough between two sheets of plastic wrap until about 5mm thick. Cut out six rectangles, the same length as the pan holes, but 1 ½ times the width. This will allow room for the meringue to be piped alongside the lemon curd bar, once it is sat on top of its pastry base. Place pastry rectangles on prepared tray.
12. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden and crisp. Cool completely.
13. To make sugar glaze, stir all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat until smooth and combined. Cool completely. Lightly brush over the unmoulded lemon curd bars to glaze.
14. To make meringue, whisk egg whites in an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
15. Stir sugar and the water in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to 115C.
16. With motor operating, drizzle hot syrup into egg whites, whisking until meringue is thick and glossy. Transfer to a piping bag.
17. To assemble dessert, place pastry rectangles on serving plates. Top with glazed lemon curd bars and decorate with a dried lemon slice. Add a row of piped meringue. Blowtorch meringue until golden.