Lime Meringue Pie

It doesn't quite have the same ring as lemon meringue pie, but lime meringue pie certainly has just as much 'zing' as its cousin.

I had had an unsatiable craving for lemon meringue pie for weeks, and when I saw a recent episode of Master Chef where they did mini key lime pies, I simply had to give this dessert a try. Unfortunately the recipe on the show is a closely guarded secret, so I set about devising my own version.

I am refraining from calling this dish a key lime pie, as it is not made with key limes (these apparently have a very different flavour to your standard lime but unfortunately this fruit native to Florida is not readily available here in Aussie-land).

I must admit I took a shortcut and used store-bought shortcrust pastry. I admit it; it was for purely selfish reasons. The way it worked in my head was that the longer it took to make pastry, the longer it was until I got pie. Meh, makes sense to me!

This recipe makes two mini lime meringue pies (I made them in 10cm springform pans). You can easily double the recipe to make one that fills a 20cm springform pan.

Kel's Lime Meringue Pie

Preheat oven to 200 (180 fan forced). Grease two 10cm springform pans with butter. Take one sheet of store-bought shortcrust pastry and cut two rounds that fit bottom of pans. Cut two 3cm-wide strips to fit around the pans. To make your pastry look more neat, firstly wrap one of the strips around the inside of one of the pans. Then take a round and push it into the bottom of the pan.

Prick the bottoms of pastry and line the pastry with baking paper. Pour uncooked rice or pastry weights into the pans and blind bake the pastry shells for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow shells to cool but leave them in the springform pans.

Filling

3 limes/75ml lime juice + 1 tbl lime zest

125g butter

1/2 cup caster sugar

2 eggs, lightly whisked

1 1/2 tbl cornflour

Pour butter, juice and zest into a saucepan and heat over low heat until butter is melted. Combine sugar, eggs and cornflour and whisk until well combined. Add this mixture to the butter mixture and keep stirring until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon (this will take up to 15 minutes).

Pour filling into prepared shells and refrigerate for several hours until set.

Meringue

2 egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 cup caster sugar

Pour egg whites and cream of tartar into a clean, dry bowl. Using electric mixer, mix on high speed until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar, one tablespoon at a time. The meringue is ready when it is glossy and when the sugar is completely dissolved. To check if the sugar is dissolved, take a small amount of the meringue and rub it between your forefinger and thumb. The mixture should not feel grainy at all.

Dollop the meringue onto prepared pies and brown using a kitchen blowtorch. If you do not have a blowtorch, put the pies into a moderate oven until the meringue is sufficiently browned.

Serve warm or cold and enjoy!