dairy-free lemon meringue pie
Cuisine: French
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 50 mins
Total time: 1 hour 10 mins
Ingredients
Ingredients for pie crust
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup (113g) margarine, softened
  • 6 tablespoons cold water
Ingredients for lemon curd
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • ¾ cups cornstarch
  • 2 cups water
  • ½ stick (55g) margarine + 1 tablespoon, melted
  • 4 egg yolks
  • Zest grated from 1 lemon
  • ¾ cup lemon juice
Ingredients for meringue topping
  • 4 egg whites
  • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar or salt
  • ½ cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.
  2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the pie crust. Mix well with your hands until fully incorporated. Roll the dough into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 minutes for it to harden a bit. Place the dough in between two sheets of wax paper and roll out into a circle shape. Revert the dough into a circle Pyrex and pinch the sides around the top of the Pyrex. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden. Do not worry if the dough puffs up a bit; it will all fall down once you fill it with the lemon curd.
  3. To make the lemon curd, combine the granulated sugar, cornstarch and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and bubbles, about 5 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat source and let it cool down. Add the melted margarine to the saucepan and mix to combine. In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the lemon zest and add to the saucepan, mixing well to combine. Heat the mixture again while adding the lemon juice. Cook on low heat for 15 minutes, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the lemon curd onto the pie crust. Let it cool completely to room temperature before topping it with the meringue.
  4. Preheat oven again to 350°F/180°C.
  5. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar (or salt) until fluffy. Gradually add the granulated sugar while continuing to beat until hard peaks form, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and beat just to combine. Top the pie with the meringue, pulling it up a bit with the spatula on certain spots to create peaks. Bake for 10 minutes until the peaks become slightly golden. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature.
Notes
ADAPTED FROM: Pie de Limon Parve from the cookbook El Secreto del Buen Sabor
CAN BE PREPARED IN ADVANCE: You can bake the pie crust and fill it with the lemon curd a day in advance. Let it cool down to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the next day. Prepare the meringue the day you serve the dessert. The pie is even better the next day, so I tend to always make it a day in advance!
Recipe by Savormania at http://www.savormania.com/dairy-free-lemon-meringue-pie/