After obtaining the incredible lemon meringue pie recipe from local producer Madame Tosan we tried it out on ten guests last Friday night.
The recipe was a little tricky, and instead of making lemon curd, the Mentonnais method creates more of a lemon flan. The result is surprisingly delicious, and a nice change to traditional recipes.
The lemons we used from the Tosan orchard were absolutely delicious and made all the difference. As a substitute for Menton Lemons, we suggest searching for Meyer lemons, or other local non-treated lemons.
Enjoy!
Tarte au citron mentonnais de Mme Tosan
**Pie Crust (Pâte sablée)**
Ingredients:
250 g flour
100 g softened butter
100 g sugar
2 egg yolks
a few ounces of water
a pinch of salt
Directions:
Mix the egg yolks sugar and salt until it becomes white, then add water. Mix in the flour all at once, then softened butter working rapidly. Work into a ball of dough, and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for one hour.
**Lemon Curd (Creme Citron)**
Ingredients:
150 ml lemon juice (2 lemons)
Lemon zest from 2 lemons
10g corn starch
100g sugar
80g butter
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
Directions:
-Zest two lemons
-Bring juice, zest and sugar to a boil, then cover and let sit for 5 minutes
-Strain though a fine mesh strainer
-In a médium size bowl mix thé corn starch and a bit of water, plus the 2 eggs and one yolk, whisking briskly.
-Pour the mixture into a sacuepan and add the chilled filtered lemon juice
-Place on medium heat and whisk briskly until it thickens (about 5 minutes or until a bit gelatinous)
-Add thé butter, mix well and chill
**Meringue**
Ingredients:
3 egg whites
1 pinch of salt
80g powdered sugar
Directions:
-Mix the egg whites in a mixer or with hand mixer with salt until firm and form small peaks
**Assembly**
-Spread ball of dough in between two sheets of waxed paper, into a diameter of around 25 cm
-Pinch the edges up along pie pan, and poke holes in the crust with a fork
-Cook the crust alone for around 25 minutes on high heat (180-200F)
-Remove crust from oven and let cool.
-Fill the pie crust with lemon curd and cover with the mixed egg whites.
-Add just a bit of liquid caramel, and broil in note oven for 2 minutes