A few months ago while over at Mum and Dad’s, Dad just casually mentioned his favourite dessert is Lemon Meringue Pie, then kind of lolled his eyes back into his skull while obviously reminicing about the last time he ate it – it was a long time ago. It was at that moment I resolved to make this dessert for Dad on his birthday.
That day could not come around fast enough. Every time I’d see one in a cafe I’d pine for the day that I would make one myself. Then, the day finally arrived. The recipe is a fairly easy one, but I’m very glad it was one of my days off work – it takes HOURS to prepare!… well… the doing part of the day is rather easy, it’s the waiting part that takes a bit of time. The recipe I used stated to make the pastry first, then make the lemon curd – then rest it for 3 hours! I recommend making the curd first and the pastry second. I used the recipe here from taste, it uses all the egg yolks in the curd and all the egg whites in the meringue – so there’s no waste.
So when Mum and Dad turned up last week I looked at Dad and firmly stated ’you’re not allowed to look in the fridge!” although, we all knew what was for dessert. After dinner,we lit the candles, turned off the lights and sang that very special song. Dad even blew out the candles all in one go!
The verdict?: ”Mmm, that was lovely, love”.
Thanks Dad, I love you too.
Happy Birthday Dad. 
A long time ago I claimed I was the best Lemon Meringue Pie maker in the world… I then became a naturopath :S
I always made the base first and then the curd…. the base dough had to be rested before cooking and then had to cool after, so only made sense to me…. but I had never heard of resting the curd for 3 hours??? I don’t think I would have used your recipe…. only because I wouldn’t have had the patience to wait that long!
yeah, i thought it was a bit excessive too – but i think it was so the meringue didn’t slide off the top!
I actually whacked the whole bowl of curd into the freezer (probabaly not the best thing to do!) it worked really well, and i only waited less than 2 hours – a perfect amount of time to create the base in.
x
s
I couldn’t find in the recipe you used, what kind of meringue it was…
Lemon meringue is my absolute favourite and I’m a HUGE fan of Italian meringue and it’s totally what makes a good lemon meringue for me.
For many years I’d been eating lemon meringue with French style meringue on top. I went to see some family in France about 4 years ago and after checking out Musee Picasso walked past a bakery with a huge pie in the window…I stopped in a bought a slice…I can’t describe the how I felt while eating it…I’d never had anything so amazing in my life (note that I say that about a lot of things I eat lol). The lemon was so tangy and perfect, the base was just right and the meringue was so light, fluffy and sticky… Ironic, that I should find this out while IN France.
I went back in February this year, and my cousin took me to a tiny little cafe in the Marais district of Paris. She said they had THE best lemon meringue she’d ever tasted, imagine my surprise when I saw this: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/photo.php?pid=10960331&id=703225299&ref=fbx_album (that’s my cousin).
I’ll shut up now…