Quick lemon meringue pie recipe

This lemon meringue pie with lemon curd saves on time but delivers on flavour.

Whip up this quick lemon meringue pie with our perfect cheat’s recipe. The classic French pie takes a total of 30 minutes to prepare, using just four ingredients. Spoon some shop-bought lemon curd into your rolled out readymade shortcrust pastry (opens in new tab) pie, and top with an easy homemade meringue. Then put your foot up and let it cook for 45 minutes. We’ll be serving ours with a generous drizzle of cream after a Sunday roast. But you could enjoy it cold with a wholesome cuppa.

Ingredients

• 1 packet of ready-made shortcrust pastry
• 8 tbsp of lemon curd, from a jar
• 6 eggs
• 300g caster sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C, gas 5 and grease a 22cm tin.
2. Roll out the pastry to generously fit the tin. Line the tin with the pastry.
3. Spoon the lemon curd into the pastry lined tin and spread evenly to the edges.
4. For the meringue, whisk the egg whites in a large bowl until they form stiff peaks (this means you can hold the bowl upside down above your head and it will not fall out). Whisk in the caster sugar, a spoonful at a time.
5. Spoon the meringue mixture on top of the lemon curd.
6. Bake the pie for about 45 minutes until the meringue is crisp on the outside and soft and marshmallow-like underneath.
7. Serve warm or cold in slices.

Top tip for making quick lemon meringue pie:

For an extra cheat, bake the pastry case and filling for 45 mins and then crumble 4 ready made meringue nests on top of the lemon curd.

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