Blistered Lemon Tart with Cloud-Torched Italian Meringue

⏱ 180 min · Serves 10

A crisp, buttery sweet pastry shell holding a silky, sharp lemon curd, crowned with billows of glossy Italian meringue scorched to caramel-tipped peaks. It's the pudding that makes a table go quiet — then very loud.

Per serving: 592 kcal · 9.0g protein · 72.0g carbs · 30.0g fat

Ingredients

• For the pastry: 250g plain flour
• 150g cold unsalted butter, cubed
• 90g icing sugar
• 1 large egg, plus 1 yolk
• Pinch of fine salt
• 1 egg white, beaten (for sealing)
• For the lemon filling: 5 large eggs plus 2 yolks
• 220g caster sugar
• 180ml lemon juice (about 5-6 lemons)
• Finely grated zest of 3 lemons
• 200ml double cream
• For the Italian meringue: 4 egg whites (about 140g)
• 280g caster sugar
• 80ml water
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• Pinch of salt

Method

1. Make the pastry: rub or pulse the flour, butter, icing sugar and salt to fine crumbs. Add the egg and yolk and bring together into a smooth disc. Wrap and chill 1 hour.
2. Roll the pastry to 3mm and line a 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin, leaving overhang. Chill 30 minutes, then line with parchment and baking beans.
3. Bake at 180C/160C fan for 20 minutes, remove beans and bake a further 10-12 minutes until sandy and pale gold. Brush the inside with beaten egg white and return for 2 minutes to seal. Drop the oven to 130C/110C fan.
4. Make the filling: whisk the eggs, yolks and sugar until just combined (don't aerate). Stir in the lemon juice and zest, then the cream. Rest 10 minutes and skim off any foam, then strain.
5. Pour the filling into the warm tart shell (fill it at the oven door to avoid spills) and bake 35-45 minutes until set with a faint wobble at the centre. Cool completely, then chill 2 hours. Trim the pastry overhang with a serrated knife.
6. Make the meringue: heat the sugar and water to 118C. Meanwhile whisk the whites with cream of tartar and salt to soft peaks.
7. With the mixer running, pour the syrup down the side of the bowl in a steady stream. Whisk 8-10 minutes until thick, glossy and cooled to body temperature.
8. Spoon or pipe the meringue over the chilled tart, sweeping dramatic peaks with the back of a spoon. Torch until bronzed at the tips.
9. Slice with a hot, dry knife, wiping between cuts, and serve straight away.