Mary Berry’s Super Easy Lemon Meringue Pie
Meringue always used to terrify me. Then my brothers fiances mum bought round this pie for dinner one vening and I was taken to another universe. I asked for the recipe and she told me it was a Mary Berry treasure. Surprisingly, I found it pretty hard to find this recipe online despite extensive googling. But it’s SO easy and straightforward and you wouldn’t know its a “cheat version”. I’ve served this multiple times to guests and on multiple occasions have been told “my mum always used to make lemon mering pie for me as a kid, but this is better”, so credit to HRH Mary Berry because if that isn’t validation of a great dessert then I don’t know what is.
Ingredients
Method
Crust
- Line a 9-inch cake tin with greasesproof paper on the bottom. I use a springform tin for easier handling
- Melt butter and combine with graham cracker crumbs or digestive biscuits (blitzed into crumbs)
- Press crust mixture into lined tin, using a flat bottomed glass to even out crust and push up the sides of the tin by around 2 cm
Pie Filling
- In a bowl, combine condensed milk and the zest and juice of the 2 lemons. Whisk in the egg yolks until combined. Don't forget to save the egg whites for the meringue topping. Pour mixture into pie tin and leave in fridge while you make the meringue topping.
Meringue Topping
- In a clean bowl (use vinegar or lemon to ensure properly clean and free of grease), add egg whites and beat with a hand mixer or stand mixer (using whisk attachment), at a very high speed until egg whites are fluffy and becoming stiff.
- Slowly add sugar, approximately 1 tablespoon at a time, while continously mixing, until stiff peaks form. To ensure sugar is fully dissolved, take a small amount of the meringue mixture and rub between fingers. If you can feel any grains of sugar then the sugar is not yet dissolved. Keep mixing until mixture is smooth.
Putting the pie together
- Pre-heat oven to 190℃
- Take pie out of fridge, and dollop meringue topping mixture on top. The mixture can be very sticky and a little tricky to work with, so it can be best to put large dollops evenly around the pie and then use the back of the spoon to fill in any gaps. You can also pipe on the mixture if you're feeling fancy.
- Once oven is heated, bake pie for around 18 minutes, until the top starts to look golden and brown.
- Remove pie from oven and allow to cool before serving. Garnish pie with a lemon slice or lemon zest.