Lemon Meringue Slice
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 8-12
For Base:
- 1 1/3 cups/200g/7ozs. self raising flour
- 3/4 cup/65g/2.3ozs. desiccated coconut
- 160g/5.6ozs. butter, melted
- 145g/5ozs caster or superfine sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Fat pinch of salt
For Filling
- 400g/14oz tin sweetened condensed milk
- 2/3 cup/165ml/5.6flozs lemon juice
- 2 egg yolks
- Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
For Meringue
- 4 egg whites (around 160g/5.6ozs), room temperature
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 160g/5.6ozs caster or superfine sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 180C/350F/ gas mark 4 and line the base and sides of a 18x26x2.5cm/7x10x1 inch rectangular lamington or brownie tin. I scrunch up a sheet of baking parchment and wet it, shake it dry and press it into a tin. In a large bowl mix the flour, coconut, butter, sugar, vanilla and salt together and then press into the tin (I use a flat bottomed glass to press the crumbs down). Bake for 15 minutes until golden on top.
Step 2 -While it is baking whisk the condensed milk, lemon juice, egg yolks, lemon zest and vanilla together. Pour into the tin once the base is done and bake for 15 minutes.
Step 3 -Whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar until foamy and starting to get soft peaks. On medium speed gradually add the sugar in while whipping and then increase the speed to high and whip until glossy and firm. Add the vanilla in and whip to incorporate for a few seconds. The meringue should be completely stiff and you should be able to turn the bowl upside down without the meringue moving. Spread on top of the filling once baked and return to the oven for 10 minutes for it to brown a little. Cool in the pan on a cooling rack and then remove and cut up.
Personal Note
I ended up giving half of this lemon meringue slice to Valentina. She loves classic slices and I wanted to give this to her as she gave me dozens of eggs from her backyard chicken and the lemons from her farm. She's so generous with her produce and getting dozens of wonderful eggs and fresh lemons is such a treat. When we went to see her we brought Teddy along but left him in the car as she was dog sitting her daughter Katie's enormous American staffy Nox. He is a nice dog but Katie recommended that we keep the two dogs separate just in case. Valentina came out to say hi to Teddy in the car and we wound down the window so that he could say hello to one of his favourite aunties.
Then it all went crazy in a flash. Nox had escaped from their front door when Val's husband Pete lost his grip on him (Nox is pure muscle) and he ran towards the car and jumped up trying to say hello to Teddy and barking loudly. The two dogs were barking frantically at each other with Nox trying to jump up to Teddy and I was trying to close the window. Mr NQN pushed Nox away from Teddy and then I closed the window. Now bored, Nox started running down the street at breakneck speed. It was as if he tasted freedom for the first time. "He's probably halfway to Croydon," a neighbour said who was watching this whole spectacle as Nox disappeared off into the distance. Pete, Mr NQN and I just froze, I was still confused about what was happening and then Valentina had to run down the street after Nox in her fluffy slippers.
Luckily a neighbour had managed to somehow curtail Nox's break to freedom and Valentina got a hold of Nox, who now looked sheepish like he knew he'd be a naughty boy. And I dare say nobody deserved a slice of this lemon meringue slice more than Valentina!
So tell me Dear Reader, have you ever lost control of a situation really quickly? Do you like the combination of lemon and meringue?