Recipe - Andalucian Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients:

200gms flour
100gms butter
3 lemons
3 eggs
200gms sugar
60gms butter
300mils water
40gms cornflower.

Lemon meringue pie has always been one of my favorite desserts- the combination of the tangy lemon pudding with the sweet airiness of meringue and the crunchy pastry is just sublime.

At the moment there's an abundance of eggs - well its Springtime after all, and there's still a glut of lemons, so I thought that this pie was a great way to turn them into something mouthwateringly delicious.

It looks a bit daunting at first, but actually its quite easy to make. First make the pastry- sift the flour and add a pinch of salt, cut the butter into small cubes and add to the pastry, lightly crumb the butter into the flour and once its all been incorporated add two tablespoons of cold water, mixing lightly to create a homogenous pastry. Line the tin with the pastry and bake blind for about 15 minutes at 200 degrees celcius.

Once the pastry comes out of the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 180 degrees celcius and start to make the lemon filling. To do this put the juice and grated lemon rind of 3 lemons into a double boiler, add 40gms cornflower and whisk until it makes a smooth paste. Then add 300 mil water to this mixing well all the time, bring to the boil and it will thicken slowly. Once thick add 60gms butter, 80gms sugar and the yolks of 3 eggs mix thoroughly and then fill the pie base with it.

Next take the 3 egg whites and whisk till they form stiff peaks, gently fold in 120gms of sugar and top the pie with it. Bake in the oven till its golden brown. Leave to cool and then eat with some single cream or just on its own.