Lemon Meringue Slice

Who doesn’t love Lemon Meringue Pie? The buttery, comforting biscuit base, tangy lemony filling, topped with a sweet, pillowy meringue. Yum! My mother-in-law recently made it for a family birthday get-together, and my children loved it! They were requesting it for their birthday cakes, or just to bake asap. So when it came to choosing the next recipe from my grandma’s recipe book I thought I would scan through to see if I could find something similar. Next thing, I had found this Lemon Meringue Slice recipe. This interested me because I thought this slice might be easier to serve than the pie, which tends to crumble and gets bitty towards the end.

Making a Lemon Meringue Pie (in this case Slice) is no quick bake. You need to set aside a good chunk of time for this labour of love, but it is definitely worth it! There are three components to this dish, as well as chilling, cooling and baking time. My two youngest children helped my mother-in-law on baking day and did well to assist through all the stages.

The difference with this Lemon Meringue Slice and a regular Lemon Meringue Pie, aside from the structure, is the filling. A regular Lemon Meringue Pie has a very tart filling that eaters sometimes find off-putting. This Lemon Meringue Slice has milk and sour cream in the filling (not usual ingredients for Lemon Meringue Pie), which adds a creaminess and cuts through the tang.

This variation was a hit! My kids, husband and just about any person who tasted it said it was the best Lemon Meringue Pie they had ever tasted! My 12-year-old son went as far as to say it was the best lemon dessert he had ever tasted. I knew we were onto something there.

Not only were the flavours delicious and soul-comforting, the fact that it was in a slice form did make it much easier to serve (and consume!). I highly recommend giving this Lemon Meringue Slice a go. You will probably find me in the kitchen making it for my son’s 13th!

Enjoy!!!

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LEMON MERINGUE SLICE

Ingredients

Pastry

• 4 oz. (115gms) Butter
• ¼ cup castor sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 cup plain flour
• ¾ cup self-rising (self-raising) flour
• ¼ cup custard powder

Filling

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornflour
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon rind
• ⅓ cup lemon juice
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 cup milk
• 2 oz. (60gms) Butter
• 1 cup sour cream

Meringue

• 3 egg whites
• ¾ cup castor sugar

Instructions

Pastry

1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add vanilla and egg; beat well.
3. Sift flours and custard powder.
4. Gradually add sifted dry ingredients to creamed mixture, mix well.
5. Roll pastry out on lightly floured surface.
6. Line base and sides of greased 7in (18cm). by 11 in. (28cm) lamington tin.
7. Prick well with fork, refrigerate 30 minutes.
8. Bake in hot oven 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.
9. Cool in tin.
10. When cold, spoon in filling.
11. Spread meringue over filling, taking it right to pastry edge; rough up lightly with fork.
12. Bake in moderately hot oven 10 to 15 minutes or until meringue is set and pale golden brown.
13. Stand at least 30 minutes before cutting into slices.

Filling

1. In saucepan combine sugar, cornflour, lemon rind and juice, egg yolks, milk and butter.
2. Stir over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens; cook 3 minutes.
3. Allow filling to cool, then fold in sour cream.

Meringue

1. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.
2. Gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition until mixture is of good meringue consistency.

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