Fruit Salad Meringue Pie

I love Lemon Meringue Pie. I have been trying to design the perfect pie for years. Delicious soft meringue that doesn't weep, buttery thin pastry and most importantly a tangy pie filling that keeps it shape when cut. I think I've got it .. only it's not Lemon Meringue pie it's my "Fruit Salad" pie - inspired by those lovely little sweeties from the penny range. The pie filling contains pureed raspberries, oranges and lemons, it's really tangy and refreshing and cleansing on the pallet .

 I have chosen to use an Italian Meringue for the topping. The soft marshmallow texture just goes so well with the tart filling and buttery pastry. For me this is perfect. If you want to go for the more traditional French Meringue of course feel free but expect seepage which might ruin your crispy short crust.  

This recipe is for a traditional 9 inch pie dish. I use a falcon enamelware dish. 

For the pastry: 

250g Plain Flour 
50g icing sugar 
125g unsalted butter
1 large egg 
teaspoon of whole milk.
Zest of 1 lemon (optional).

Put all your ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until it comes together in a loose ball. Tip the pastry on to a work surface and gently press into a definite ball shape. DON'T overwork it (my rule is to touch it as little as possible), you want your pastry to be buttery and light. Wrap your pastry in cling film or a sandwich bag and pop into the fridge for at least half an hour. 

Once the pastry has rested roll out into a thin disk (you are aiming for your pastry to be as thin as possible) and place into the pie dish, press the pastry lightly into the dish, I always think at this stage gravity is your friend - don't force it and go slowly. Place a piece of parchment paper inside the pastry with baking beans (or rice / kidney beans  etc) and blind bake for 20 minutes at 180C, take the pastry out of the oven after 20 minutes and remove the parchment and baking beans. If the pastry still seems soft bake for another 5 minutes without the parchment paper. 

Place the cooked pastry shell to one side to cool completely. 


For the filling: 

150g fresh raspberries
2 lemons (zest and juice)
1 medium orange 
85g unsalted butter cut into pieces
3 egg yolks
1 whole egg 
100g caster sugar 
2 tablespoons of cornflour 
50ml water


Push the raspberries through a sieve, collect the juicy pulp in a bowl and throw away the seeds. 

Zest and juice the 2 lemons and add to the raspberries.

Juice the orange and add to the raspberry / lemon goodness. 

Place the caster sugar and cornflour in a saucepan, pour in the fruit juices and the 50ml of water, stir over a medium heat until it thickens, watch it like a hawk and don't walk away or stop stirring during this process! Once it starts to bubble remove from the heat. 

Add the butter and stir in until melted and well incorporated. 

Leave it to cool further for a few minutes before beating in the 3 egg yolks and whole egg. 

Your filling is now ready - have a taste .. I always do! 

Pour your filling into the pastry case and smooth over. 


This is where my pie differs to traditional lemon meringue pie, because I use Italian Meringue we are not going to be baking the pie in the oven but we still need the filling to set.

Place a large baking sheet on the top shelf of your oven, place the pie on the bottom of the oven and bake at 170c for 15 minutes. This is a nice slow bake just to set the filling. Keep an eye on it and make sure your pastry is not burning, the sheet at the top of the oven should prevent this. 

Take the pie out of the oven and leave to cool completely. 


For the Italian Meringue: 

A little note on Italian Meringue - it is pretty difficult to achieve this without a freestanding mixer, this is because it is difficult to pour molten hot sugar syrup into your egg whites without scalding yourself - go forward with caution if you choose to go for it with a hand mixer or dare I say it a good old fashioned whisk!

4 egg whites
200g caster sugar 
200g of water (yes .. weigh it !!) 
A pinch of cream of tartar. 
A sugar thermometer or thermopen

Put your egg whites and a pinch of cream of tartar in the bowl of a freestanding mixer. Use the whisk attachment on a medium speed to bring your egg whites to soft peak. 

Meanwhile put your sugar and water into a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil on a medium heat. Watch your sugar thermometer the whole time, you want to bring the temperature up to 112c (soft ball stage), this usually takes 15-20 minutes, when it reaches 115C turn up the heat and bring the temperature quickly up to hard ball stage 121C .. at this moment you need to turn your mixer up to high and quickly pour the syrup in one fluid movement into your stand mixer. 

Keep whisking your meringue until it is completely cool. About 15 minutes. 

This is the stage where it is very difficult for me not to plunge a huge spoon in the bowl and eat the lot .. but I digress. 

Spread your meringue in peaks and swirls on top of your pie, you can be as pretty or as rustic as you like. You could even pipe it if you are feeling particularly frivolous. 

I love the look of the pure white soft meringue on my pie but if you want to be really fancy you can colour the peaks with a catering blow torch or pop it until the grill until it is lightly golden. 

Leave the pie for about an hour before you dive in ... 

Enjoy :)