Lemon Meringue Pie from Britain

While the French might have been the first to experiment with meringue, the British definitely perfected the lemon meringue pie and took it with them as they colonised the world.  Nowadays you find lemon meringue pie all over the world, especially in coffee shops and cafes.  This recipe is a bit of a cheat one as you use biscuits as the pie crust and condensed milk in the filling.  But, it's easy enough to knock up quickly when unexpected guests arrive for tea,

1 packet of sweet biscuits
125g butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs separated
1/2 cup lemon juice
3 teaspoons lemon zest
1/2 cup caster sugar
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.  Melt the butter and crush the biscuits.  Add the crushed biscuits to the melted butter in a greased pie dish and mix together well.  Press down firmly as this will be your crust.  Refrigerate while you make the filling and the meringue.  Put the egg yolks, condensed milk, lemon juice and zest in a bowl and mix together.  Spoon it onto your biscuit pie crust.  In another bowl beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and if you turn the bowl upside down they don't fall out.  Carefully fold in the 1/2 cup of sugar.  Spoon the meringue onto the lemon filling.  Put into the oven for about 15-20 minutes until the meringue turns a golden colour.
Cindy Vine is a South African currently living and working in Kyiv in Ukraine.  She is the author of Hush Baby, Defective, C U @ 8, Not Telling and The Case of Billy B.  All her books are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle format.