On Thursday, I discovered a clutch of 9 eggs that the hens had been hiding from me. None of the hens are broody, they just seem to like laying in places I won't find despite the fact they have nest boxes in 2 different coops to choose from! I bought eggs earlier in the week because I thought they weren't laying -ha! End result, far too many eggs again! So, today I am made a Victoria Sandwich Cake  and a Lemon Meringue Pie, which is probably the iGit's favourite pudding. Between them I used 10 eggs, 4 for the Cake, and 6 for the Pie.

I am usually pretty awful at pastry and buy a ready-made, ready to roll, sweet shortcrust pastry to make the pie base. I normally have a plenty in the Freezer as I tend to bulk buy when I go to the supermarket, as shopping is one of my biggest pet hates.  Sod's Law dictates there was none to be found in the freezer, so I made some instead and it worked out quite well for a change! Well, I say that, the proof will be in the eating.

First make the pastry:

Sweet shortcrust pastry pie case

Ingredients

80z plain flour, sieved

pinch of salt

6oz Butter, Margarine, or Lard on any combination of, softened and chopped up

2 eggs, beaten

2  level tsp of caster sugar

Method

Mix salt and flour together. Rub in the fat until it resembled small breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and stir in.  Add the beaten eggs to bind the ingredients together until it makes a firm dough. Place the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before using to make pie case. Once thoroughly chilled, roll out the pastry and use to line an 8 inch flan ring or fluted flan dish.  Chill for a further 30 minutes in the fridge. Put some greaseproof paper and baking beans over the raw pastry and blind bake in the oven at Gas Mark6 (200C/400F) for 10 -15 minutes.  Take the pie case out of the oven, and carefully remove the baking beans and greaseproof paper and return the pie case to the oven to bake for another 5 minutes until the base of the pie case is set. Put to one side and make the custard and the meringue.

Then make the filling and topping:

Lemon pie filling and meringue topping 

Ingredients

1 pint water

finely grated zest and juice of 4 unwaxed lemons

8oz of granulated sugar

10 level tbsp of cornflour

4 eggs, seperated

6oz of caster sugar

Method

Place the water, the lemon juice and zest, and the granulated sugar into  a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved.  Mix the cornflour with 12 tbsp of water to make a smooth paste. Stir the cornflour paste into the saucepan until well blended. Bring the saucepan to the boil, stirring,  and cook for 1 minute until the mixture has thickened.  Allow to cool for a few minutes and then beat in the eggs yolk adding one at a time. Pour the warm  lemon filling into the pastry case.

For the meringue topping, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Whisk in half the caster sugar until fully blended, and then lightly fold in the remaining caster sugar.  Pile the  meringue mixture on top of the lemon filling, ensuring it is completely covered, and using a fork to create peaks on the meringue.  Bake in the middle of the oven for 35 minutes at Gas Mark 2 (150C/300F). The meringue will be a light and crisp golden colour when ready.  Remove from oven, and remove flan ring gently, placing the pie on a serving dish.

Enjoy!