Lemon Meringue Pie

INGREDIENTS FOR A 23cm (9 inch) PIE: For the crust: 190g all-purpose/plain flour 40g icing sugar 100g dairy-free butter 30g soy milk 3g white vinegar For the filling: 190g caster sugar (or other granulated sugar) 5g agar agar powder 20g cornstarch 190g dairy-free cream 320g almond milk 15g lemon zest, chopped yellow food colouring 150g lemon juice For the meringue topping: 110g aquafaba, cold (reduced from 160g) 2 tsp lemon juice, strained (10g) 130g caster sugar STEPS - For the crust, blend the flour, the sugar and the butter to obtain a sort of breadcrumbs, combine the mixture with the vinegar and the soy milk, and knead briefly to obtain a dough. - Wrap the dough in cling film, place it in the fridge and chill it for at least 3 hours, or overnight. - Once the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 150°C (no fan). - Roll down the dough into a 30cm (12 inches) disk of roughly 5mm (¼ inch) thickness, and use the disk to line a 23cm (9 inch) non-stick pie tin. - Scrunch a piece of greaseproof paper under water and squeeze it to remove any excess moisture. - Line the pie tin with the wet paper, add plenty of rock salt to it and use it as a weight for the blind baking process. This will prevent the dough from rising and moving. - Bake the base in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, rotating it every 15 minutes to allow for even browning. Let it cool down completely, and remove salt. - For the filling, mix a third of the sugar with the agar agar, and set aside. - Mix the remaining sugar with the starch and the cream, and set aside. - Place the milk in a saucepan over a medium heat, pour in sugar/agar mix and whisk to properly combine the ingredients. - Add the zest, bring to a boil, and simmer gently for 3 min to hydrate the agar. - Add food colouring to taste and stir again; we added the colouring in 6 times using the tip of a toothpick. - Now, lower the heat to the minimum and pour in the cream/starch mixture. Bring the filling back to a boil stirring constantly, and as soon as it starts boiling again, turn off heat. Add in lemon juice and stir once more to complete the filling. - Pour the filling in the precooked shell through a fine sieve to remove the zest, and let the pie set at room temperature for 30 minutes before placing it in the fridge for 3 hours to fully set. - Whip the aquafaba and the lemon juice using a stand mixer at full power for 8 minutes, and then, gradually incorporate the sugar 1 tbsp at the time, making sure to wait 40 seconds between each addition. - Once the sugar is finished, whip for another 4 minutes at full power before placing the meringue topping in a pastry bag and piping it onto the pie or onto the slices before serving. - Torch the topping if desired, making sure to be careful and gentle because aquafaba does not coagulate, so it won’t react as egg whites would. A gentle torching and a little colour goes a long way to add a nice colour, and subtle caramel flavour to the pie.