Yahoo Finance Make Gloria’s famous lemon meringue pie
Gloria restaurant has become renowned for its show-stopping and mouth-watering lemon pie. Here, a crisp and buttery pastry base is topped with a layer of zesty lemon curd-meets-custard. Then for the Italian meringue, which is a dramatic, pillow-soft dome (the taller the better), complete with a scorched top. Squisito!
Gloria’s lemon meringue pie
Ingredients
For the pastry
90g unsalted butter
20g ground almonds
50g icing sugar
2 large eggs
150g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
For the lemon custard:
1 leaf gelatine
3 unwaxed lemons
3 eggs
70g caster sugar
140g unsalted butter
For the Italian meringue:
230g caster sugar
2 tablespoons water
Juice of 1 lemon
4 egg whites
Method
To make the pastry, soften the butter in a bowl with a spatula. In a mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the softened butter, ground almonds and icing sugar until smooth. Then add the eggs one at a time while beating. Incorporate the flour and salt. Mix the pastry dough until crumbly. Form the dough into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and rest overnight in the fridge.
For the lemon custard, first soften the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for five minutes. Zest two of the lemons and squeeze all three. In a bowl, beat the eggs with a fork. Combine the lemon juice, sugar and butter in a pan and bring to the boil. Gradually add the eggs, incorporating them with a whisk. Cook over a low heat until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Pour the mixture into a bowl. Squeeze the gelatine and incorporate it. Add the lemon zest. Use an immersion blender to mix well. Put into an airtight container and rest overnight in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 175°C/Gas Mark 4. Roll out the pastry dough into a six-millimetre-thick disc. Grease a tart pan with butter and line with the pastry. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
To make the Italian meringue in a pan over a low heat, dissolve the sugar into two tablespoons of water and the lemon juice. Bring to the boil and cook until the mixture reads 120°C/250°F on a cooking thermometer. If you don’t have a cooking thermometer, put a little syrup in a spoon and let one drop fall into a glass of cold water. If it forms a small soft ball, the syrup is ready. In a grease-free bowl, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Pour the syrup in a thin stream into the meringue while whisking until the mixture cools.
Assemble the dessert by filling the pastry case with the lemon custard. Use a plastic spatula to cover the tart with meringue, creating a dome in the centre. Caramelise with a chef’s blowtorch. Chill in the refrigerator for an hour before serving.
