Lemon Meringue pie
Last week I was out for dinner with my friend Hermin and we got to eat at a restaurant called “Entrecote et les dames”. Now the funny thing is that this is a restaurant were you can only get two dishes. I guess it will come as no surprise that one of those dishes is entrecote. The other being fish; if you really cannot eat meat. The concept is fairly simple; you choose fish or meat and that’s it. Starter was a salad. Again delicious in it’s total simplicity (saladleaves with dressing and walnuts. Delicious!) and then you get served the entrecote. Initially we were a little shocked at the small piece of meat on our plate, but as it turns out they do that on purpose to prevent the meat going cold. The serve it in parts. Once you finish part 1, you get part 2. And since they have all the time to perfect their meat… it was absolutely delicious. As were the fries that went along with it.
Now we also had a quick peak at the dessert card and both felt like having a dessert. Hermin picked the chocolate mousse and on recommendation of the waitress I picked the lemon meringue pie… And o my god, that was soooo incredibly good that we were both tempted to have a second serving (my friend had some of my pie wishing she had taken the same) We didn’t go for the second serving since we had had enough to eat already and also discarded the idea to take one home in a doggy bag… Instead I promised her I would try and recreate the dish to the best of my ability.
I also had some ready made dough in my fridge which I needed to use so this weekend was the perfect time to try and make the lemon meringue. Our friends in Belgium had been kind enough to get us three packages of ready made, rolled out dough of the kind that we cannot get here (or I haven’t been able to find it) and while my search was mostly for puff pastry in a larger piece she got me two other kinds as well. Crumble dough was the one I picked for the meringue.
Since I didn’t have to worry about making the dough I could concentrate my efforts on finding a good recipe for the filling. Obviously there are many lemon fillings to be found, but I wanted the one closest to our dessert at the restaurant. Basically the filling was very strong in lemon flavor so a lemon curd type of filling would do the trick. To counterbalance the sour taste of the curd it was topped with a meringue and then quickly baked in the oven to get a brown color on the meringue.
Lemon Meringue pie
Ingredients
- Lemon filling
- 6 eggs
- 100 gr butter
- Juice of 4 lemons
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 170 gr sugar
Meringue
- 4 eggwhites
- 110 gr fine sugar
Instructions
- Since I already had the dough I didn't make that but you can use any recipe of your own that would be for a sweet pie. Heat the oven to 180 degrees C. Butter the form well and dust with icing sugar. Tap on the form to remove any excess sugar. Put the dough into your form, add a piece of baking paper and some form of weights. I always use dried beans for baking blind, but rice or something else would work too. Bake for about 10 minutes, check how it is doing and continue baking if necessary. Mine took about 20 minutes (but then my oven has been known to need longer then most) at which point I removed the baking paper and beans and continued to bake for another 5-8 minutes or until golden brown.
For the lemon filling
- Mix the eggs, butter, sugar, lemonjuice and zest in a heatproof bowl. Place the bowl above a pan with softly boiling water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water (au bain marie). Keep stirring while the mixture heats up (roughly 10 minutes) It needs to become thick and creamy. Ad the filling to the bottom and put in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Meringue
- Beat the eggwhite in a clean and fatfree bowl till it forms soft peaks. Add the sugar spoon for spoon. The eggwhites are ready when all the sugar is dissolved and you have a shiny mass of eggwhite. Spoon the eggwhite on top of your lemon filling and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes until you have brown peaks. Remove and cool before eating.
Disclaimer
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
That sounds like an interesting restaurant. It definitely makes things easier. Your pie looks so delicious! I need to start baking again :-/
That sounds like an interesting restaurant. It definitely makes things easier. Your pie looks so delicious! I need to start baking again :-/
lovely pie! I love the flavor of lemon and custard!
lovely pie! I love the flavor of lemon and custard!
Mmmhhh, that is one of my favorite pies! Yours looks mighty delicious.
Cheers,
Rosa
Mmmhhh, that is one of my favorite pies! Yours looks mighty delicious.
Cheers,
Rosa
That looks like a very delicious pie. It is already on my “to bake” list. Thanks.
Kirsten
That looks like a very delicious pie. It is already on my “to bake” list. Thanks.
Kirsten
What a gorgeous pie, a perfect meringue and decadent dessert! Lovely to catch you on FB, Simone 🙂
What a gorgeous pie, a perfect meringue and decadent dessert! Lovely to catch you on FB, Simone 🙂
Thanks Sanjeeta!
The restaurants sounds so different. but so good. I have an instant craving for this pie now. Love anything lemon and the color is so very beautiful. I am so scared to make a meringue.
The restaurants sounds so different. but so good. I have an instant craving for this pie now. Love anything lemon and the color is so very beautiful. I am so scared to make a meringue.
You shouldn’t be scared Soma! With your skills I am sure you would be fine doing a meringue and it’s not that hard really
When a restaurant relies on simple dishes it leaves more of an impression….I like that they serve the meat in portions too! Great looking pie Simone!
O, your lemon meringue looks incredible. Delicious, great job with the photographs and styling…
Thanks! 🙂
Thanks Peter. I thought it was a fun concept and different from the norm. By the way the restaurant was totally packed it seems to work too. They do not take reservations either!
We love lemon pie and it’s been a while since I’ve made one. Now I am inspired to try this recipe.
We love lemon pie and it’s been a while since I’ve made one. Now I am inspired to try this recipe.
Wow, what a lovely pie! This is one of my favorite spring and summer desserts – light and airy, but decadent and delicious. Thanks for sharing. You have a beautiful blog and I’m looking forward to exploring your recipes. 🙂
WOW! Those pictures are amazing. I made a lemon pie a few days ago, but I bet it didn’t taste as amazing as that one. And wow a salad then some Halabut THEN some Meringue pie! I’m ready!
-Thanks
We have a similar restaurant here in Montreal, except they only have one main course: beef entrecôte, with fries on the side. There’s an optional soup and salad to begin with, and the only dessert is profiteroles. No surprises, but it’s always good, and at least there are never any regrets or difficult decisions!
Your pie looks beautiful, such a vibrant filling! Lemon meringue is one of my favourites!
You can buy that kind of pastry there? Not here… but, it is so easy to make anyway – and that tart looks incredible. Love the high meringue. YUM!
The menu sounds supreme in it’s simplicity. When you get that right, you have a life time business!
🙂
Valerie – still catching up
You’re right that it is so easy to make yourself and truth be told, it’s probably better tasting too… 🙂 I do prefer homemade!
I can’t see the recipe. 🙁
Sorry Michelle. I forgot to add a code but its there now!