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This week’s Foodie Fridays nomination was Marc, from France! Although not a student, Marc’s part in the school has earned him the chance to prove his cooking skills to the students!

As you know, during Foodie Fridays, one student (or staff) is tasked with making a food native to their home country. This week, Marc decided to cook Lemon Meringue!

You can see here the final product! 

• 175G Plain Flour
• 100G Cold butter (cut into small chunks)
• 1 tablespoon of icing sugar
• 1 egg yolk.

• 2 tablespoons of cornflour
• 100G of golden caster sugar
• The zest of 2 large lemons (finely grated)
• 125ml of fresh lemon juice
• Juice of 1 small orange
• 85G butter, cut into pieces
• 3 egg yolks, and 1 whole egg

• 4 egg whites
• 200G of golden caster sugar
• 2 tablespoons of cornflour

1. Put the flour, butter, icing sugar, egg yolk (save the egg white for the meringue) and add 1 tablespoon of cold water into a mixing bowl or food processor.
2. Pulse/Mix the ingredients until it starts to bind (come together).
3. Tip the pastry onto a floured surface, and gather until smooth.
4. Roll out the mix and line a 23 by 2.5 centimetre loose-bottom fluted flan tin. Gently press the pastry so that it lines the tin. Trim and neaten the edges.
5. Press the pastry into flutes. To do this, work around the edge of the pastry tin, pinching sections of dough with one hand while pushing against it with a finger from the opposite hand (as shown in the photo below).
6. Prick the base of the tin with a fork, line with kitchen foil (shiny side down) and chill overnight (or for one hour).
7. Put a baking sheet in the oven (heated at 200C/Fan 180/Gas 6). Bake the pastry case for 15 minutes (weighed down with baking beans) then remove the foil and bake for another 5-8 minutes until pale golden. Lower the temperature of the oven 180C/Fan 160/ Gas 6.

1. Mix the cornflour, sugar and lemon zest in a medium saucepan. Strain, and stir in the lemon juice gradually.
2. Mix the orange juice with water so that you have 200ml and strain into the pan.
3. Cook over a medium heat, stirring throughout, until thickened and smooth.
4. Remove from heat and beat in the butter until melted.
5. Beat the egg yolks (save the whites for meringue) and whole egg together. Stir into the pan and return to a medium heat.
6. Strongly stir for a few minutes, until the mixture thickens and plops from a spoon.
7. Take off the heat and set aside.

1. Put egg whites into a large bowl, and whisk to soft peaks. To check this, when you turn your whisk upside down, the peaks will stay firm for a few a second, before melting back into themselves. (see photo below)
2. Add one half of the sugar, a spoonful at a time, whisking the sugar into the mix very gently so as not to over-beat the egg whites.
3. Whisk in the cornflour, then add the rest of the sugar until smooth and thick.

1. Reheat the filling and pour it into the pastry case
2. Immediately put spoonfuls of meringue around the edge of the filling, and then spread so that it touches the pastry (this will make sure the meringue doesn’t sink).
3. Put the rest of the meringue over the filling, so that all of the filling is covered.
4. Return to the oven for 18-20 mins, until the meringue is crisp, then let the pie sit in the tin for 30 minutes, then remove from the tin and let the pie sit for a further 30 minutes before serving.