Do you know when you feel like eating something? And do you think about her all the time? So this happened with this Lemon pie. I was thinking about it for a long time.
But needed have some points: very buttery base, creamy filling without being too trick (read condensed milk) and meringue made with a specific nozzle. No wonder it took me a while to do it.
I wasn’t always a fan of lemon pie, precisely because of the condensed milk trick. Nothing against it as you know (Condensed Milk), but I wanted something different from the basics this time.
And the answer comes in the form of curd, lemon cream with eggs, yolks and butter. It makes you want to eat it pure, like this, alone and with a spoon. If you like very sour things, this is for you. Even more than I used lemon Tahiti, which is more acidic than Sicilian.
The meringue is Swiss, but with that speed. I don’t make it in a bain-marie, I put the pan directly on the heat. We are roots-brutality (hi?) and live dangerously. If you’ve never done it like this and are worried, it works just as well in the bath. And yes, the egg whites are still raw in both cases. I.e, a lot of emotion.
Lemon Meringue Pie Without Condensed Milk
Makes: 1 rectangular pie 30x11cm or round ~20cm
Ingredients: FILLING
- 01 pre-baked pie base recipe
- 200 mL strained lemon juice (01 Sicilian lemon and 03 Tahiti lemons)
- 150 g crystal Sugar
- zest of lemon peels
- 110 g butter without salt
- 03 eggs
- 03 excited
Ingredients: SWISS MERINGUE
- 90 g clara (about 03 units)
- 110 g refined sugar
- 0,5 g refined salt (pinch)
- 1 g cream of tartar (optional)
1 cup: 250mL | 1 tablespoon: 15mL.
Mode: FILLING
- Heat the oven to 180ºC.
- In a pan, mix lemon juice, sugar, lemon zest and butter cut into cubes. Bring to low heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar.
- In a bowl, beat the eggs and yolks, set aside.
- When all the butter is melted, add about 2 ladles (~1/3 of the mixture) of the lemon mixture over the beaten eggs, stirring constantly.
- Return the egg and lemon mixture to the pan. Continue cooking over low heat to thicken, about 5 minutes. Without stopping moving.
- When it thickens, remove from heat and transfer to another container. Wait ~10 minutes before using.
- Place the cream on the pre-baked pie base, spreading it well and smoothing the surface.
- Bake at 180ºC for about ~15 minutes, it will be slightly dry on the surface and firmer.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely before decorating.
Mode: SWISS MERINGUE
- In a very clean pan, mix egg whites, sugar, salt and cream of tartar.
- Place over low heat, stir to dissolve the sugar. This step is traditionally done in a water bath.
- Test with your fingers to feel if the sugar has dissolved. The consistency of the egg whites changes, they also become more liquid.
- Transfer to the bowl of a mixer, and beat well until you have firm peaks (wire whisk). About ~7-8 minutes depending on the power of your equipment.
- Once it forms firm peaks, you can use a piping bag and tip if you want. I used a #125 Wilton petal nib.
Mode: FINALIZATION
- A pastry tip was used for this pie, but it can be decorated any way you wish: with a spoon or spatula.
- Using a blowtorch and very carefully, burn the meringue.
- Adapted: David Lebovitz.
- Filling: Can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. The complete pie is best consumed the day it was finished. It contains a lot of eggs, for me, it doesn’t have an egg flavor… that’s what I always feel about it in everything. But if you’re crazier than me, you might feel it.
- Lemon: I used different citrus fruits for flavor. If you just want to do it with Tahiti, no problem. I used the zest from the skins of the 4 fruits, you can add less if you want. And yes, we know that Tahiti is actually a sour lime.
- Cream of tartar: sold in confectionery stores, helps with the stability of the meringue. If you don’t find it, it’s not that big of a problem.
- Merengue: technically it is raw, yes, the time it spends on the fire is not enough to pasteurize it.
