It’s British Pie Week and I am here for it. Is there anything more comforting than a pie? There is something very special about pulling a hand made pie out of the oven, whether sweet or savoury, it’s simply joyous.

I love a savoury pie, from the classic chicken and mushroom or my recent vegetarian pie, they are all delicious. But I decided to try a sweet variation this time. I don’t make many sweet pies so I thought why not. Although, as this was my first attempt at a lemon meringue pie, I decided to start small and make two individual ones, just in case there were any major disasters and ended in tears. Plus I love miniature things!

I read and watched lots of different recipes for this dish and pulled what I wanted from them. I tried to keep it simple for myself, mostly because I didn’t want to spend all day making this. Therefore I used ready made shortcrust pastry from Jus Rol and it worked a charm. I love using ready made pastry when I don’t have the time or energy to make it myself, they are great products.

Here’s how I made my version:

1. Firstly I blind baked my pastry. I cut two round circles using a bowl (as my cookie cutters were too small) and placed them in a Yorkshire pudding tray. You can use a cupcake tray also and make smaller ones if you prefer, or regular tart tins! I clearly need to buy some.
2. I then pushed them down into the moulds with an extra piece of pastry so I didn’t break it. I pricked the based with a fork to stop it from rising and crimped the edges with my fingers.

3. Next I lined them with baking paper and filled the cases with baking beans (you can also use uncooked rice or lentils). I baked them in the oven at 180c for 10 minutes, then removed the baking beans and paper, egg washed the inside and baked for a further 3-4 minutes until golden and cooked through.

4. Whilst the pastry cases were cooling, I made my lemon curd. Again I have never made lemon curd before and found a super easy recipe on BBC Good Food. This recipe was simple and didn’t use an endless amount of ingredients.

5. All I had to do was measure out the butter, caster sugar, lemon juice and zest in a heatproof bowl and place it over a pan of simmering water. Once the butter had melted, I whisked in 2 eggs and kept whisking it till it thickened (almost like custard). And that was it! So simple and so so delicious.

6. Once the lemon curd had cooled a little bit, I placed it in the pastry cases and put them in the fridge to set for about 30 minutes.

7. Next, I made the meringue. I only used one egg white as I only needed a small amount. I placed the egg white in my mixer and whisked it up until it became fluffy. Then I slowly added 60g of caster sugar, one spoonful at a time and whisked until I was left with a thick and glossy meringue.

8. I simply dolloped the meringue on top of the set lemon curd and fluffed it up (yes fluffed) to make it look pretty. I then torched mine with a blow torch (so fun!) or you could put it under a hot grill for a few seconds until brown.

And there you have it. A quick and slightly cheats version of the classic lemon meringue pie. It was so delicious, fresh and zesty. It was also really nice to have individual ones as it felt a little special. It tasted amazing and its something I will definitely be making again for friends and family. Would anyone like to come over? 😛

Will you be making a pie this week? If you are let me know what you’re making in the comments below! Thanks for reading. Hope you have a great day! 🙂

P.S I was loving all the International Women’s Day posts yesterday on Instagram. It’s so inspiring to see so many women thriving and lifting each other up. As an Asian female photographer I have sometimes found it difficult to find my feet in this profession, but seeing all the amazing women yesterday has given me more drive to succeed. Let’s continue to support each other and realise our worth. I dedicate this post to all the amazing and inspirational women in my life, past and present, near and far.

My name is Bhavisha Surti and I am a food photographer and stylist based in Milton Keynes. Please subscribe to my blog below and check out my website to see more of my work at www.jbimagery.co.uk. Thank you!