Hello everybody, this delicious homemade Lemon Meringue Pie. I used two large jars of my homemade Lemon Curd recipe. It is best to cook the lemon curd 1–2 days in advance. You can also bake the tart base the day before. So you then have the lemon tart or as the French say the “Tarte au citron” ready in no time. We love having it in the summer on hot days. I think it also looks great on a nice coffee table and is very tasty for dessert.
Lemon Meringue Pie with meringue
In my base recipe for the tart crust, I have explained exactly how to blind-bake it. I have also already baked the base two or three days before, which has never been a problem because the shortcrust pastry holds extremely well. In France, the “Tarte au Citron” is a real classic, and you can get it in any bakery. Sometimes as a tartlet, sometimes baked as a large tart. It is offered there with and without meringue topping. Just like in England, the Lemon Tarte or Lemon Meringue Pie is one of the absolute classics. I love this refreshing lemon tart not only in summer but all year round. This “Tarte au Citron” is baked in a 24 cm tart pan. You can also bake this tart with lemon cream. But I prefer it with my homemade lemon curd.
These are the main parts you need for the Tarte au Citron These are the two main components you need to make your lemon tart perfect. It is best to cook the lemon curd a day or two before you actually want to use it for the tart. You can also bake the tart base very well in advance. Having these two main parts on hand already will save you a lot of time on the actual “Lemon Tart Day”. This is how you can prepare this delicious French dessert classic.
In the two base recipes on my blog, you can find the preparation of the shortcrust tart base and the lemon curd. You’ll find instructions on how to bake the tart crust further down this page, but if you wish for a more detailed tutorial, you might want to have a look at the shortcrust pastry base recipe.
I hope you enjoy reading, strolling through, and trying out my cooking and baking recipes!
Equipment
- 1 tart pan 24 cm
- 1 piping bag
- 1 scale
- 1 Spoon
- 1 bowl
- 1 saucepan
- 1 mixer or food processor
- 1 baking paper
- 1 weights for blind baking (dried beans or similar)
Ingredients
Lemon tart – Lemon Pie
- 6 eggs
- 6 lemons large organic
- 300 g sugar 1,5 cups
- 180 g butter
- 2 tbs corn flour or cornstarch
- 2 tsp lemon peel grated lemon peel
Meringue
- 4 eggs whites
- 150 g sugar 3/4 cup
- 1 pinch salt
Short crust pastry base
- 180 g flour 1,5 Cup
- 70 almonds 3/4 Cup
- 125 g butter 1/2 Cup +1 Tbsp
- 80 g sugar 1/3 Cup 1Tbsp
- 1 whole egg
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
Instructions
Tart dough see basic recipe
- My advice is to bake the tart base one day before! Prepare all ingredients, measured and weighed. Knead a short crust dough from flour, cold butter and the remaining ingredients. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator for about 20 -30 minutes.
- Line a tart pan with baking paper, roll out the dough and place it in the tart mold. Trim the edges around the mold. Prick the dough with a fork and place a sheet of baking paper on top of the dough. Now fill it with dried beans (or similar) or baking weights and blind bake the base on the lower rack at 360° Fahrenheit. For about 15 minutes. Remove the paper and bake the base for about 5 more minutes, make sure it doesnt get too dark.
- Allow the baked short crust pastry base to cool before you fill in the cream.
Lemon Curd
- If you don't want to use store-bought lemon curd, you can prepare the lemon curd in advance according to the lemon curd recipe on my blog. Place about 2 jars of the lemon curd on the cooled shortbread base. It is simply spread on the base with a spoon.
Meringue
- For the meringue, first separate the eggs and whip the egg whites with salt until fluffy, slowly adding the sugar. The egg whites should be very firm!
- It is best to fill the whipped egg whites into a piping bag. The easiest way to do this is to put the bag in a small measuring cup and then fill it with the beaten egg whites.
- Use the piping bag to pipe small dots of egg white onto the lemon cream. It's best to work your way from the inside out so you don't accidentally get your piping bag or hand on the dots.
- Bake the lemon tart in a preheated oven at 110 degrees for 15 minutes. Be careful not to let the meringue get burned. I went over the meringue with a gas burner very lightly after baking. But you have to be very careful not to burn the meringue too dark.
- The tart should then be chilled in the refrigerator until ready to eat! If you like, sprinkle some lemon zest on the meringue for decoration.
