Lemon Pie or Lemon Pie

The lemon tart is probably my favorite. The lemon cream that accompanies it is sour and creamy at the same time, while the meringue is very sweet, forming a contrast of flavors that I love.

The secret is in the dough, which is much better to do by hand than in an electric mixer. The cream, however, although it can of course be made by hand, it is much easier to make it in a robot that cooks because we can forget about it.

The cream will last in the fridge for many weeks if it is well packaged and you can also freeze it. But what makes this cake a winner is that once it's ready you can freeze it, with the meringue and everything. Then thaw it at room temperature and it will be like freshly made. So when I prepare it, I always make two: one to drink and one to freeze, and I always have a delicious dessert ready for the days of unexpected guests at home.

Ingredients

For the mass:

•  250g of flour
• 150g butter cut into cubes
• 100g sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• A pinch of salt
• 1 large egg

For the lemon cream:

• 220g sugar
• 100g of butter
• the zest of two lemons
• 150ml lemon juice
• 1 egg
• 3 egg yolks

For the meringue:

• 3 clear
• 165g sugar

Preparation

1. For the dough: In a bowl mix flour, sugar and butter with the tips of your fingers. When tofo is integrated, add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and place the dough between two baking papers.
2. Roll out the dough. Remove one of the papers and place the dough on a low pan Efficient 22 cm. Put the other paper on top. With your hands adjust the dough to the mold evenly. Fill the pan with chickpeas and bake at 180 degrees for about 18-20 minutes until the dough is golden around the edges. Remove the paper with the chickpeas and reserve.
3. For the lemon cream, in a bowl with a spoon, mix the yolks and the egg with the sugar, the zest and the lemon juice. In a saucepan Bra Efficient 16 cm, put water to heat.
4. When it is hot, put the bowl on it, moving nonstop so that the yolks set. The water should slightly touch the saucepan, but not all of it.
5. When it has thickened, pass it through a and leave in a bowl until it cools completely. Fill the tartlet with the cold lemon cream.
6. In a tall saucepan Bra Efficient 20 cm put 3 fingers of water to boil. In a bowl of an electric mixer, put the egg whites and the sugar. We will put the bowl over the saucepan with boiling water and move with some rods until the sugar has been diluted (when you touch it with your fingers you will not notice the grains of sugar).
7. When the sugar is dissolved, put the bowl in the electric mixer and beat with rods until you get a firm and shiny meringue. Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag. Decorate on the lemon cream and burn lightly with a torch.

Photographs and recipe by Loleta .