Ultimate lemon meringue with Swiss meringue

Ingredients:

Base: 

• 1 packet (200g) tennis biscuits, finely crushed 
• ½ cup (125g) butter, melted 

Filling: 

• ¾ cup (180ml) milk 
• ¾ cup (150g) castor sugar 
• ¼ cup (60ml) cream 
• 3 large egg yolks 
• ¼ cup (60ml) cornflour 
• Juice (240ml) and grated peel of 4 lemons 
• 1 tsp (5ml) vanilla essence 
• ½ cup (125g) cold butter, cubed 

Swiss meringue:  

• 4 large egg whites  
• ½ tsp (3ml) cream of tartar 
• 1 cup (200g) castor sugar 
• ½ tsp (3ml) vanilla essence 

Method

1. Combine biscuits and butter together and press into a greased 35cm x 12cm rectangular tart tin.  
2. Chill until firm, about 20 minutes. 
3. Heat milk and sugar in a pot and stir until sugar dissolves. 
4. Combine cream, egg yolks and cornflour and whisk into milk mixture. 
5. Add lemon juice and grated peel and cook for about 5 minutes, whisking vigorously until thickened. 
6. Whisk in vanilla and butter until melted. Remove from heat. 
7. Cool and pour over biscuit base. 
8. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour. 
9. To make meringue, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar in a bowl over a pot of simmering water until mixture is warm to the touch. (Make sure water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl – you can even put a tea towel between water and bowl to make sure eggs don’t overheat.) 
10. Immediately transfer mixture to a stand mixer (or use a handheld electric whisk) and whisk until stiff peak stage.  
11. Gradually add 1 Tbsp (15ml) sugar at a time at one-minute intervals. 
12. Once sugar has dissolved completely, whisk in vanilla essence. 
13. Transfer meringue to a piping bag and pipe onto set curd, or alternatively simply dollop onto curd.  
14. Brown meringue topping with a chef’s blowtorch or under a hot grill for 3-5 minutes. (This is an optional step if you’d like to brown meringue, but as meringue is cooked, it can be eaten as is.) 
15. Slice and serve. 

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