Happy second blogiversary to meee!! I cannot believe The Medical Gourmet is already 2 years old – these past two years have flown by. At this point I could get deep and soppy and reflective, but let me not bore you. For all of you who don’t have a reason to drink some bubbly this evening – use my blogiversary as an excuse;-). And, if you are in search of a delicious dessert recipe to go with your bubbly – you can never go wrong with an indulgent citrusy meringue pie. Well, that’s my plan anyways. Cheers to a great year. Happy Wednesday!

Passion Fruit/Lemon Meringue Pie

makes a 24cm pie

You’ll need

For the Crust
300g flour
1 egg
125g butter, diced
75g icing sugar
For the Filling
9 passion fruits
2 lemons, zest and juice
150ml water
125g sugar
40g cornflour
4 egg yolks
For the Meringue Topping
4 egg whites
200g sugar

1. For your crust:  rub the butter into the flour and icing sugar with your fingers, then mix in the egg until everything comes together to form a smooth dough. Shape into a disc and chill for 30 minutes.
2. Line a 24cm tin with baking paper and grease the edges with butter. Flour a work surface, roll out your pastry and use it line your tin. Prick the base all over with a fork. Chill again for 20 min.
3. Preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan). After having lined your pastry case with baking beans, blind bake for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes until golden.
4. For your filling: Halve the passion fruits. Scoop the pulp into a sieve set over a jug and work with a spoon to strain through the juice. Add the lemon zest and enough lemon juice for the mixture to reach 200ml. Stir in 1-2 tbsp of passion fruit pips.
5. Place the cornflour and sugar into a medium pan and gradually whisk in 150ml cold water followed by the passion fruit mixture and egg yolks. Turn the stove to medium heat and whisk constantly until the mixture bubbles and thickens. Scrape mix into the still warm pastry base. Return to the oven and bake for about 10-15 minutes, until firmed up.
6. For your meringue topping: whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Slowly add 4 tbsp of sugar, whisking continuously. Once incorporated, gradually add the remaining sugar and beat until thick and glossy. After the 10-15 minutes of baking are over, spoon or pipe the meringue mixture over the filling and bake for another 13-15 minutes, until the meringue is golden.
7. Dig in! Delicious almost straight out of the oven or at room temperature.

Rating: 8/10

Tastewise delicious. Next time I would make the crust a tad thinner.