British Lemon Meringue Pie
Category:	Dessert recipes
Servings:	4 servings
Time:	60 minutes
Difficulty:

• 8 digestive biscuits
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tin sweetened condensed milk
• 1-2 lemons
• 3 eggs (1 yolk, 3 whites)
• 6 tbsp caster sugar

Find a 10 inch diameter pie dish about 1 inch deep. There are 3 layers to make.

First, make the bottom layer by pounding the digestive biscuits into crumbs with the end of a rolling pin. Add sufficient melted butter to make the mixture cohere, mix well, then smooth it into the bottom of the pie dish. Press down firmly with the tip of a spoon to make the base.

Then, make the filling. Take a tin of sweetened condensed milk, and add the yolk of one egg. Stir gently, and add the lemon. Add the lemon to taste: more will be better, but be careful not to add too much or it will spoil the texture. Do not stir too much. Pour this into the pie dish, covering the biscuit layer.

Lastly, make the top. Whisk all 3 egg whites, then add the caster sugar, then whisk some more. Spoon the meringue mix into the pie dish, sealing around the edges.

Cook the result in a moderately cool oven for about 45 minutes until the meringue is a light golden brown. The aim is to cook the meringue and partly cook the centre (unlike, say, Baked Alaska, where only the top of the meringue is flash-cooked). Remove from the oven, allow to cool, and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours to set. Enjoy

• There are 2 types of lemon meringue pie. The more common version has a lemon "gel" in the centre (which is often a luminous yellow colour), and a hard pastry base. The version above is much stickier.
• In an earlier version, the centre used all 3 egg yolks. It isn't necessary, and it is more healthful to omit 2 of them.

The acidity of the lemon acts on the protein in the egg yolk to thicken the filling. Therefore, the egg yolk must be added and mixed in before the lemon; otherwise, the egg-yolk will go "stringy" when it hits the acidic mixture.