Lemon Pie~! | Recipe

Hi~
So here's a recipe with lots and lots of steps but worth it. My Grandma gave me this recipe when I was 5 and I've been doing it by myself since I was 9 :) I can do it, you can do it~! :)!

Couldn't find a picture of the whole pie that didn't have Tobi next to it~ :)

Here's the very long list of ingredients;

For the pastry;
50 grs powdered sugar
100 grs butter (cut in pieces)
150 grs all purpose flour
1 egg

For the lemon custard;
1 can of condensed milk
1 can of water
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp cornstarch
3-4 lemons

For the italian meringue;
3 egg whites
270 grs sugar
water

Let's start with the pastry (because the longer it stays in the refrigerator, the better)
1- In a bowl or a clean table form a volcano with swifted flour and sugar. Put butter on the hole of the volcano.
2- Make sure your hand are cold and mix with your fingertips and rubbing your palms together until you get crumbs. Add the egg and blend everything together but don't knead for too long
3- Make a ball with the dough and cover with plastic wrap. Put in the refrigirator.

Follow with the lemon custard
1- Open a can of condensed milk and put the content in a pot. Fill the same can with water and put half of it in the pot too. Mix together and put in medium-low heat.
2- To the rest of the water in the can add the egg yolk and cornstarch and stir with a spoon so everything disolves in the water.
3- When the condensed milk in the pot starts to heat up, add the mixture in the can.

4- Here's the part when you want to be really careful. Don't walk away from the stove, that's when it'll burn :O! Constantly stir the mixture, bieng careful of always moving what's on the bottom of the pot. It'll start to thicken slowly, and when it stars to make bubbles it's done! Take out from the heat and put it in a bowl. Let it cool down.

Let's finish the pastry!
1- Take dough from the refrigerator and roll out, the cooler it is the easier is to cover the pan. Use whatever technique you prefer to cover it, cut the excess and stab it with a fork.
2- Bake at 350ºF for 15 minutes or until lightly golden.

The lemon part of the lemon custard;
1- Once the custard has cooled down, add the juice of 3 or 4 lemons (depends how lemony you like it :)~) Be careful to add a bit and mix, then a bit more and mix, ect.
2- Fill the pastry with the custard and let it set for a bit

Meringue, meringue, meringue;
1- Put the sugar on a pot and add enough water to soak it, but not too much, and put on medium heat.
2- Watch for the point where if you deep a spoon in the sugar syrup and lift it up you can see a hair fly away from the spoon. I know, confusing~ It gets easier with practice. If you have a candy thermometer, cook until 240ºF (116ºC).

Can you see the sugar hair flying away?

3- This part is easy in a way and hard on the other~ Beat the egg whites until soft peaks (easy, see?) but you have to get to that point at the same time the sugar syrup reaches the point described in point 2. One can't wait for the other. (I know, hard. It also gets easier with practice).
4- Then keep beating the egg whites on high speed while you drizzle the syrup in a continous and steady flow.

5- Keep the mixer going until the meringue cools down.

The Last Step~!
1- Put the meringue on top of the custard filled pastry.
2- Put in the oven on broil until the meringue gets golden. If you have a torch, use it. It's easier ;)

Done~!!