Our lemon lime meringue pies are great for dinner parties as they are easy to make ahead and are beautifully presented as individual portions.
These pies are like a lemon meringue pie but as mini portions for one and with some extra lime flavour to compliment the lemon. If you can’t find thickening granules use a couple of tablespoons of cornflour mixed with the lime and lemon juice to form a paste.
Ingredients
- 350g (12oz) sweet shortcrust pastry
- 125g (4oz) golden caster sugar
- Finely grated zest of 3 limes
- Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
- 4tbsp lime juice
- 4tbsp lemon juice
- Green liquid food colouring (optional)
- 150ml double cream
- 4tbsp thickening granules
- 3 medium egg yolks
For the meringue:
- 3 medium egg whites
- 175g (6oz) golden caster sugar
Method
- Set the oven to 190C (170C, Gas 5). Put a baking sheet in the oven to heat up. Roll out the pastry fairly thinly, cut into six and use to line six 10cm tartlet tins. Press the pastry into the fluted sides and trim the top edges. Prick the bases with a fork. Chill for 15 minutes.
- Put the sugar, lime and lemon zest and juice and a drop of green colouring, if using, into a large jug. Stir in the cream and thickening granules. Microwave on Medium for 3 mins, until thickened and smooth. Stir in the egg yolks.
- Line the pastry cases with greaseproof paper and baking beans. Bake blind for 8 minutes. Remove paper and beans and cook for 2 more minutes.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 180C (160C fan, Gas 4). Pour the lemon and lime mixture into the pastry cases.
- Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. Gradually whisk in the sugar, 1tbsp at a time, until it’s all used and the meringue is smooth and glossy.
- Pipe or spoon the meringue on top of the pies and cook for 15 mins, until the meringue is just firm.
Top tips for making lemon lime meringue pies
If you don’t want to use green food colouring you could add a little more lime zest to the mixture so it adds an extra pop of colour. You can also bake the pastry cases the day before if you want to get ahead.
Store in an airtight container and refresh in the oven for a minute or two before filling with the lemon lime mixture and meringue topping. Continue reading below for more useful tips and tricks.
How do you keep lemon meringue pie from weeping?
When you make the meringue it’s important you only start adding sugar when the egg whites are at stiff peaks. You then need to add it slowly and ensure it’s completely mixed before making the next addition. You should serve the baked lemon meringue pies as soon after baking as possible to stop them weeping. Humidity will make them weep more.
Should meringue be put on hot or cold filling?
It’s best to pipe or spread the meringue on a warm filling. This means that as the meringue cooks the filling isn’t going from cold to warm which will release steam and could make a runny layer between the meringue and curd.
How do you keep meringue from sliding off a pie?
Ultimately the meringue is not grounded so it will naturally move around a little. When spooning or piping the meringue out, work from the edges then move inwards to prevent it from sinking too much.
This recipe requires you to blind bake the pastry cases with baking beans. You can use dried rice but if you’d prefer not to raid your cupboards for enough dried grains and pulses, invest in some reusable ceramic beans instead.
You might also like our lemon trifle which has a luxurious Italian meringue topping. Alternatively, our lemon pudding and lemon creams are good simple dessert options. If you’ve got friends visiting, a slice of lemon drizzle cake is always a popular afternoon treat.
