Quick & Easy

Ruby grapefruit meringue pies

We've given a grapefruit flavour to the classic lemon meringue pie here, but you could experiment with any citrus fruit, or a combination of.
ruby grapefruit meringue pies
8 Item
1H 30M

Ingredients

Method

1.For ruby grapefruit curd, whisk egg yolks and sugar in medium heatproof bowl over medium saucepan of simmering water. Chop butter, add to pan with rind and juice. Cook, stirring, until mixture coats the back of a spoon. Pour into clean medium heatproof bowl, cover surface with plastic wrap; refrigerate until cool.
2.Chop cold butter. Sift flour into large bowl; rub in butter until crumbly. Mix in enough of the water to make ingredients just come together. Knead dough lightly on floured surface until smooth. Flatten pastry slightly, wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate 30 minutes.
3.Grease eight 8cm (3¼-inch) round loose-based fluted flan pans. Divide pastry into eight equal portions. Roll out each portion on floured surface or between sheets of baking paper until large enough to line pans.
4.Lift pastry into pans; press into bases and sides, trim excess pastry. Prick bases all over with fork, place pans on oven tray; refrigerate 30 minutes.
5.Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F.
6.Line pastry with baking paper; fill with dried beans or rice. Bake, on oven tray, 15 minutes; remove paper and beans. Bake a further 10 minutes or until browned lightly and crisp. Cool.
7.Spread curd into tart shells.
8.For the meringue, combine sugar and the water in small saucepan; stir over high heat, without boiling, until sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, without stirring, until syrup reaches 115°C/240°F on a candy thermometer. When syrup reaches 115°C, start beating egg whites with cream of tartar in medium bowl with electric mixer until soft peaks form. While beating egg whites, bring sugar syrup to 121°C/250°F. With motor operating, gradually pour syrup into egg whites in a thin steady stream; continue beating until mixture is thick, glossy and cooled to room temperature.
9.Spoon meringue into piping bag fitted with large 1.5cm (¾-inch) plain tube; pipe meringue onto tarts. Serve immediately or brown lightly with a blowtorch, if you like.

You can also make the pastry using a food processor. Process flour and butter until crumbly; with motor operating, add the water and process until ingredients just come together. Or you can use ready-made shortcrust pastry. As the meringue sets quickly, keep beating it until ready to pipe (or spread it with a metal spatula). If you don’t have a blowtorch (available from kitchenware and hardware stores) you can brown the meringue very quickly under a preheated grill (broiler). Candy thermometers are available from kitchenware stores. Digital thermometers are easiest to read.

Note

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