Lemon meringue pie

Ingredients

For the Pastry

• 170g Gluten Free Plain Flour
• 2tsp Gluten Free Baking Powder
• 2tsp Xantham Gum
• 100g Margarine (check it is allergen friendly)
• 60g Icing Sugar
• 1 Large Egg Yolk (save the white for the meringue)

For the Filling

• 2tbsp Cornflour
• 100g Golden Caster Sugar (if you don't have this then normal caster sugar is fine)
• 2 Large Lemons, zested
• 125ml Fresh Lemon Juice (from about 3 lemons)
• 1 Small Orange, juiced
• 80g Margarine
• 3 Large Egg Yolks (save the white for the meringue) and 1 Large Whole Egg

For the Meringue

• 5 Large Egg Whites
• 250g Golden Caster Sugar (if you don't have then use normal caster sugar)
• 2 tsp Cornflour

Utensils

• 2x Large Bowls
• Sieve
• Cling film/saran wrap
• Loose bottomed fluted flan tin (circa 23cm diameter), greased
• Parchment Paper
• Rolling pin
• Fork
• Blind baking beans or rice
• Medium Saucepan
• 2x Large mixing spoons
• Electric Whisk

Method

1. First of all make the pastry. Combine the flour, baking powder and xantham gum and then sieve it into a large bowl
   
2. Add the margarine to the flour combination and rub together with your fingers to form crumbs. You should have evenly sized crumbs, which aren’t hiding any large margarine masses! Sieve the icing sugar and add it to the bowl, mix well until the icing sugar is fully combined
3. Add the egg yolk and mix well. It should all come together into one big, slightly soft, dough ball.. If you are used to making pastry it will seem far too soft to you. Wrap the dough ball in cling film/saran wrap and put it in the fridge for 1 hour
   
4. Heat the oven to 200 ̊c/180 ̊c fan
   
5. Now for the complex part. Put down a large piece of parchment paper or saran wrap on your work surface. Put the pastry on top and cover with another large piece of parchment paper/saran wrap. Using the rolling pin, roll the pastry out to a thickness of about 0.5cm. You have it between the two layers as it is very soft and will stick to your rolling pin/the work top without it. Peel off the top layer and use it to line the flan tin. Peel off the other layer of paper/wrap, press the pastry down so that it fills all the flutes. Trim off the pastry excess and use it to fill in any gaps/breaks.
   
6. Lightly prick the pastry all over the base with a fork and put back into the fridge to cool for 10 minutes Then, remove it from the fridge and bake it blind (filled with scrunched up parchment paper and baking beans or dry rice) for 10 minutes. Then bake it normally for another 5-10 minutes until it is starting to go golden in colour (I can find that sometimes if the weights weren’t quite in the corners the pastry can rise up to much. If this happens then push it down with your finger. Likewise if you have any cracks developing then just put some of the excess pastry over the breaks and bake it in on the non-blind stage. Take it out and put it to one side.
7. Whilst the pastry bakes makes the lemon curd. Mix the cornflour, golden caster sugar and lemon zest in the saucepan. Strain the lemon juice through a sieve and add it slowly to the saucepan. Add enough water to the orange juice so it makes up 200ml and strain this through the sieve and into the pan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly until it becomes thick and smooth (it will also look much clearer)
8. Once the mixtures bubbles and is thick, remove from the heat and add in the margarine. Beat the egg yolks with the whole egg and add to the saucepan, stirring well. Return to a medium heat and keep stirring vigorously for several minutes (it takes me about 10) until the mixture thickens (but does not curdle) and plops from the spoon. Take off the heat and set aside, whilst you make the meringue
9. Reduce the oven temperature to 180 ̊c/160 ̊c fan
10. Put the egg whites in the clean large bowl, whisk to soft peaks, the add half the sugar, one spoonful at a time, whisking between each addition without overbeating. Whisk in the cornflour, then add the remaining 125g sugar as before until smooth and thick.
11. Quickly reheat the filling until it bubbles and pour it into the pastry case. Immediately put large spoonfuls of meringue (with the clean spoon) around the edge of the filling, then spread it so it touches the pastry edge, as this will anchor it. Pile the rest into he centre, spreading it so it touches the surface of the hot filling and give it all a swirl.
12. Return the pie to the oven for 18-20minutes until the meringue is crisp and slightly coloured. Turn off the oven and allow the pie to sit in the closed oven for 45 minutes to cool. Remove from the oven and take it out of its tin, allowing it to cool for another 30-60 minutes, before slicing.