How to Make Simple Vegan Meringue Pie
Who says you have to use lemons? Lazy Cat Kitchen
Lemon meringue pie is one of England’s favourite desserts, although it’s not local (you can’t grow lemons in England!) However it is actually possible to make this dessert local by subbing lemons with other fruits (say apples, rhubarb or peach).
Check medication before consuming rhubarb. Keep fresh dough away from children and pets (and keep citrus away from pets, it’s toxic to them, including in cleaning products).
Lemon meringue pie is quite an old dessert, originating in the 19th century when European citrus custards were combined with baked meringue. Some claim it was invented in Victorian England (by botanist Emile Campbell-brown who had his staff bake it for the Earl of Shaftesbury, others say Switzerland (by baker Alexander Frehse) or Philadelphia (by food historian Elizabeth Goodfellow who ran the USA’s first cooking school).
We do know however that ‘citrus custards’ were created in the late 1700s by Quakers. French chefs were topping apple dishes with meringue in the 18th century, way before lemon meringue pie becamse a thing.
Reasons to choose vegan meringue pie
Vegan lemon meringue pie is obviously free from butter for the crust, and there are no eggs in the meringue. So it’s both animal-kind and free from cholesterol. It’s also good to bake a big pie that suits everyone, including those with dairy and egg allergies.
Reasons to bake homemade vegan meringue pie
As well as avoiding factory-farmed ingredients, palm oil and plastic packaging, vegan lemon meringue helps to use up leftover brine water from tinned chickpeas, to make the meringue! Called ‘aquafaba’, it’s an accidental science experiment that is Latin for ‘bean water!’
A simple recipe for lemon meringue pie cups
This recipe makes four little dessert cups, easier than baking a big pie!
The crust
- Crush 80g of vegan biscuits with no palm oil (just under half a share bag of Rhythm 108). Eat the rest!
- Press them flat into four dessert cups.
The lemon curd
- Whisk 1/2 cup of caster sugar, 2 tbls cornstarch and a tiny pinch of turmeric in a saucepan (for colour, not too much or you’ll make a curry meringue pie!)
- Pour in 1/2 cup each of water and fresh lemon juice, and whisk until cornstarch dissolves. Stir for a few minutes until a thick glossy gel.
- Remove from heat, and stir in 1 tbsp vegan butter with no palm oil (Flora or Lurpak).
- Cool, then pour over biscuit bases.
The vegan meringue
- Mix 1/4 cup of liquid from canned unsalted chickpeas and 1/8 tsp cream of tartar in a grease-free bowl. Whizz with electric mixer for a few minutes until peaks form.
- Always pop ringpulls back over holes or fully remove lid (and pinch tops shut) of cans before recycling, to stop wildlife getting trapped.
- Add 1/4 cup caster sugar (one tablespoon at a time, every 30 seconds).
- Add 1/4 tsp vanilla extract.
- Dollop meringue on the lemon cups, then toast the peaks until golden brown (if you don’t have a kitchen blowtorch, you can use a grill for a few minutes – but don’t use glass cups as they could shatter under heat).
- Serve immediately, or chill for up to 4 hours.
