Lemon Meringue Tart

Is there anything better than a lemon meringue tart? Crisp pastry, fresh citrus filling and chewy meringue topping! It is a family favourite and it brings up childhood memories for my dad and his siblings. They have then passed on their love for this tart to all their kids! It was always for special occasions in my dad's family and so I make this for his birthday every year. Of course I make it more than once a year but I try to not make it too often so that it remains a special treat.

A lemon meringue tart is broken down into 3 main elements, the pastry, the custard and meringue. I've broken the steps down into as much detail as possible sharing all my tips and tricks to make it as easy as possible for you.

If you are not a coeliac or have any dietary requirements, the pastry recipe below can be made with normal flour and omit the xanthan gum.

Lemon Meringue Tart

Tin Size: 23cm fluted tart tin

Pastry

230g Gluten Free Plain Flour (Dove's Farm)

7g Xanthan Gum

70g Caster Sugar

130g Cold Butter, diced

1 Egg Yolk

1 tbsp Cold water

Temperature: 170°C Fan

Cooking Time: 20-30 minutes

Chilling Time: 30 minutes

1. In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, xanthan gum and caster sugar together.

2. Add the cold diced butter, continuing to mix with the paddle attachment until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

3. Mix the cold water with the egg yolk and add to the breadcrumb mix, mixing until comes together. There is no gluten to develop. If the dough isn't coming together, you can add a few more drops of water until dough forms.

4. Immediately after the dough comes together, roll the pastry out larger than the tin you will be using between two sheets of baking parchment. Chill for 30 minutes.

5. While the pastry is chilling, make the Lemon Tart Filling below.

6. Preheat the fan oven to 170°C.

7. Lightly butter the tin. Peel off one of the sheets of baking parchment and use the side with the paper to help work the pastry into all the edges of the tart tin.

8. Keep the tart tin on a tray lined with baking parchment or a silicone baking mat. This will prevent the tart from slipping or falling.

9. Remove the paper, trim the edges of the tart and put the baking parchment back on top for blind baking. (Use baking beans, rice or any dried pulses; dried pulses will smell weird)

10. Blind bake at 170°C for 15 minutes with the paper, remove the paper and bake for a further 10 minutes or until lightly golden.

Tip: If you are at all a nervous baker and would be inclined to check the pastry too early, lightly flour the pastry before putting the baking parchment which will help to stop it from sticking.

Note: In my personal experience with gluten free pastry, it would often crack when chilled first and then rolled out. I find this method easier to work with

Lemon Tart Filling

6 Medium Eggs

200g Double Cream

4 Lemons, Zest & Juice

200g Caster Sugar

Temperature: 160°C Fan

Cooking Time: 30-35 minutes

1. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs to just break them up. Add in the cream and whisk until combined well with the eggs.

2. Roll the lemons on the counter, this will help you get the most juice out of your lemons. Finely zest the lemon peel using a microplane or a zester. Add in the zest and the zest to the egg and cream mix.

3. Add in the sugar to mix and whisk to make sure it will combined. If you used a microplane there is no need to pass the tart filling through a sieve. If the zest is quite large, pass the mixture through a sieve as the larger pieces of zest will not be nice to eat.

4. Transfer the tart mix to a pouring jug and tap that lightly on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles.

5. Once the pastry is blind baked, drop the oven temperature down to 160°C.

6. Put the tart tin on the lined tray back in the oven, quite low and remove any oven racks above it. Let the tart heat up for 5-10 minutes so that the lemon mix will start to cook immediately.

7. Pour the jug of lemon tart filling in the oven and fill it right up to the top of the pastry.

8. If your oven cooks unevenly, make sure to turn the tart half way through cooking time. Bake for 30-35 minutes. You are looking for the center of the tart to be slightly wobbly.

9. Remove from the oven and let the tart the fully cool in the tin.

10. Remove the tart from the tin before decorating with meringue.

11. Once the tart is cool, start the Italian meringue mix.

Italian Meringue

3 Medium Egg Whites

170g Caster Sugar

Enough water to dampen the syrup, about 30-40g

1. Put the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment.

2. In a small pot, add the sugar and water. Add the water 10g at a time and stir, until all the sugar is saturated. Use a pastry brush and water to remove any sugar that has got stuck on the sides of the pot, this will prevent your sugar from crystallizing.

3. Bring the sugar syrup to 118°C, once the sugar syrup reaches 110°C start whisking the egg whites on medium speed.

4. Once sugar syrup reaches 118°C and the egg whites are frothy and starting to increase in volume, slowly stream in the hot sugar syrup just on the edge of bowl into the egg whites.

5. Turn it up to high speed and mix until the bowl is no longer hot to the touch. Transfer the meringue to a piping bag with a nozzle and pipe on to your tart.

6. To toast the topping: use a blowtorch or turn up the grill of the oven on high and pop the tart in the oven until it toasted and puffy. Times will vary in home ovens so keep a close eye.

This recipe will keep at room temperature for 3 days. Don't keep your lemon meringue tart in the fridge or it will cause the meringue to weep and lose it's crunch.

Happy baking!