Laughing Lemon Meringue is one of those classics. You either hate it or you love it. I love it and I felt some inspiration to bake some, and I thought I would share the recipe with you. It has quite a few steps, but it is worth the effort.
Time: Just over an hour
Yield: 6 individual portions or 1 large pie
Difficulty: Medium
Ingredients:
Pastry:
½ tsp. vanilla essence or fresh vanilla
1 cup +2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 pinch of salt
¼ cup + 3 Tbsp. cold cannabutter cubed
1 large egg yolk
1 Tbsp. icing sugar
1 Tbsp. cold water
Filling:
1 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp. cannabutter
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
4 egg yolks, beaten
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
¼ tsp. salt
1½ cups water
2 lemons, juiced and zested
Meringue:
½ cup white sugar
4 egg whites (make sure there is no fat in the egg whites or bowl)
Method:
Pastry:
Place the cold canna butter and flour into a mixing bowl and rub the two ingredients together using your hands. As the butter softens from the heat of your hands, it will mix with the flour and create a fine breadcrumb texture.
Now incorporate the sugar and salt into the crumb-like mixture.
Add the vanilla and egg yolk to the flour mix and mix only until the ingredients come together.
Add cold water a teaspoon at a time if the pastry doesn’t come together.
Once all the ingredients have come together, roll the pastry into a ball, and wrap it with plastic wrap. Place it into the fridge to rest for at least an hour.
Preheat your oven to 320°F.
After the pastry has rested, line a 19-inch baking tin or 6 to 8 smaller tartlet tins with the pastry. Using a fork, prick the pastry all over the base. Add in some baking beans and blind-bake the pastry for about 20 minutes. After about 10 minutes, remove the baking beans to allow the base to cook properly.
Once golden brown, remove from the oven and set aside while you make the lemon curd filling.
Filling:
Preheat your oven to 325°F.
In a saucepan, add the sugar, flour, salt, and cornstarch together.
Mix in the water, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
Place the saucepan over medium heat and mix often to prevent scorching it. Once the mixture comes to a boil, stir in the canna butter, and remove from the heat.
In a small bowl whisk the egg yolks together. Now, slowly drizzle ½ cup of the hot sugar mixture into the yolks. You must keep whisking here or you will end up with scrambled eggs. This step is called tempering the eggs.
Once the hot sugar mixture has been added to the egg yolks, add it back into the mixture still left in the saucepan. Always whisking.
Place the saucepan back onto medium heat and continue to whisk until it comes to a boil and thickens.
Remove the filling from the heat and pour it into your baked pastry. Make sure the filling is touching the sides of the pastry.
Meringue:
To make the meringue, beat the egg whites in a very clean bowl with an electric mixer. You can also use your hands, but it will take longer.
Once the egg whites begin to take on a foamy appearance, slowly add in the sugar while still beating.
Continue to beat the egg whites and sugar until the mixture forms stiff peaks.
Spread the meringue over the filling and make sure to seal all the way to the edges of the pastry.
Bake the tart in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or, until the meringue has a golden color.
