Sunday Baking: The Meringue Wars Part 2

Lemon Meringue: Classic vs Modern Part 2

The second part of the experiment! This was by far the favourite lemon meringue! I've made it before, but I kept thinking about how I could make it even better. I had two ideas: Make lemony taste  so intense it made my brain freeze, and make the meringue creamy and denser. This time I took on the meringue.

I chose the italian meringue because a little tart hinted me towards it. I looked it up in the Larousse, and it didn't look too bad. It came out super creamy and I was really hopeful!! The only problem was, I kept waiting and waiting for it to brown, but it didn't.. Eventually the tips of the meringue peaks burned a bit and I took it out.

My goodness it was delicious. Do you think it's because it's made out of Tennis biscuits, butter, condensed milk and sugar? I don't even get to think about eating condensed milk when I'm not quietly sneaking it into one of these. I apologise for the picture below in advance, as, I just couldn't get a good looking slice out of this guy!

Italian Meringue
From Larousse Gastronomique

4 egg whites
200 g castor sugar
200 ml water

1) Put the water and castor sugar on the heat and bring to the boil. Keep boiling until they reach a temperature of between 120 C and 160 C (I tend to use one of these easy thermometers)- this is called soft balls stage.
2) While it's boiling, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
3) While still beating the egg whites, start adding the syrup in a thin stream (you probably need 2 people for this), keep beating until the mixture is completely cool!
4) Spread on top of a lemon meringue pie, bake for about 10 minutes at 180 C or until lightly browned.

This pie was such a huge hit! With me even more than the usual fans (Ane, my partner in this gorgeous endeavour!). I thought we were all out, but I found some leftovers in the fridge at work, and I literally jumped up and down!! Better than finding money in your pocket!