I cannot quite express my exhaustion. It is mighty. But a few positives since last I posted; I started a photography course (so hopefully if I can stop being a lazy cow I might actually take some decent photos), we cleared our garden, my newest and eleventh nephew came home and another thing that I’m not allowed to say (no-one is pregnant).

I shall talk no more because I may fall asleep.

It’s lemon meringue pie if you hadn’t guessed.

Oven temperature 180 Celsius

One quantity of pastry as per this earlier post.

Filling;

Cornflour                                 2 tablespoon

Caster sugar                            115g

Lemon zest                              2

Lemon juice                             125ml

Orange juice                           1 large

Butter                                       90g

Egg yolks                                 3

Meringue;

Egg whites                              4

Caster sugar                          200g

Cornflour                                2 teaspoons

Butter and line a 23cm flan case and preheat the oven. Make the pastry according to the link and bake it blind for 12mins and then unblind for another 10mins.

For the filling put the cornflour, sugar and zest into a medium sized saucepan.

Juice the lemon.

Juice the orange and make the orange juice up to 200ml with water.

Slowly whisk the juices into the cornflour mix and place the pan on a medium heat.

Heat it, whisking regularly, until the mix turns more translucent and thick custard consistency.

Remove the pan from the heat and beat in the butter. This is easier if the butter is cut into little pieces.

Whisk in the egg yolks and return the whole lot to the (medium) heat for another few minutes until it starts bubbling and gets to the ribbon stage.

Now. You should have a perfectly cooked pastry case and tangy lemony filling ready.

So make the meringue. Put the egg whites and sugar into a large bowl and whisk till stiff peaks and then add in the cornflour and beat some more.

Pour the filling into the pastry case (you might need to reheat the filling to get it back to pouring consistency).

Dollop over the meringue, starting at the edges and working in so the meringue doesn’t all sink into the filling.

Put the beast into the oven for a final 20mins, just long enough to lightly brown the meringue.

Eat it like we did with a massive flump of cream and big cup of tea. Best served on a crap day.