Lemon Meringue Pie

This recipe for lemon meringue pie was one of my most popular posts online. My Sister set me a challenge to make her one as she thought it wasn't possible now she is vegan. I have had a few failed attempts at this recipe so the final ingredients and method are sure to give you a great result.

PLEASE NOTE: In the video I make a meringue top and mini meringues that go in the oven to crispen. I found some parts of the meringue stuck to the parchment paper and a silicone baking mat is much better. You cannot put the base and filling in the oven to crispen the meringue so making a separate one to sit on top is a better option. You can also decorate the pie with the freshly whipped meringue and brown it with a cooks blow torch or place gently under a low grill. My Sister likes the soft fresh meringue and my partner prefers the crisp meringue. To cover this problem I decorate the pie with fresh meringue and then place cooked meringue on top of that or as decoration or on the dish its served in. I hope I haven't made this sound complicated as it's not. You'll find your own version trying both.

Ingredients
For the meringue:
1 can of chickpeas drained. You just need the juice (unsalted if possible)
1 Tsp vanilla essence
1/3 cup of castor sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

For the base:
140-150g vegan biscuits. I used Lotus Biscoff biscuits in the video
40g of liquid coconut oil

For the lemon filling:
2 cups plant milk. Soya worked best for a creamy taste
1-2 tbsp soya/coconut cream
The juice and rind of 2 lemons
6 tbsp agave/maple syrup
3 tbsp corn flour/starch
1 tsp of agar agar
1/2 tsp turmeric

METHOD:

Turn on the oven to 100ºC, 212ºCF Drain chickpea juice into a large bowl (keep chickpeas for humus or another dish) Whisk juice for 10 minutes. You may be tempted to stop once it thickens but keep going for the full 10 minutes. Add vanilla essence, sugar and cream of tartar and whisk again for another 2-3 minutes until the meringue forms glossy stiff peaks. Add to a piping/icing bag and on parchment paper or a silicone matt squeeze small circles of meringue in a circle to form a top for your pie. On a separate bit of paper make separate small meringues which you can use to decorate. Place in the oven and let them cook for 2 hours. When they are ready turn off oven and wait another hour for the meringues to cool inside the oven.

For the base:
Put biscuits into a food processor/blender and blend until you have crumbs.
Add the coconut oil and blend again until everything is combined.
Pour into a loose base baking tin 7" and press down firmly.
Place tin in the freezer to set.

For the filling:
On a medium to high heat place a saucepan on the hob and add the milk, cream, corn flour, syrup, turmeric, agar agar, lemon juice and rind. Stir thoroughly and quickly to combine all the ingredients. Stir continually for 3-4 minutes until it thickens like custard. Grab your tin from the freezer and pour over the liquid. Place in the fridge for at least an hour until it's set.

Just before removing the meringues from the oven retrieve your pie from the fridge and have a bottom plate ready for it to sit on. Gently push the bottom base upwards and place your pie on the plate ready for the meringue.

Make sure when your meringues have finished cooking do NOT remove them from the oven. Turn the oven off and let the meringues cool inside.

Carefully peel the meringue from the paper/mat and then place on top of your lemon pie.

Alternatively with your fresh meringue mix decorate the top of the pie and brown with a cooks blow torch or gently under a grill.

Enjoy!!!