The lemon meringue Pie is one of the most famous desserts ever that you can get at Harry’s Bar in Venice.

They is really delicious and worth all the money (unfortunately not so few) which will be asked.

However the good Arrigo Cipriani has graciously revealed the secrets of this sweet in his book “My Harry’s Bar” and we, with so much patience and good will, have tried to repeat it… for us and for you 🙂
The cake has a base of a shortcrust pastry with lemon along with a mix of two custard (custard and lemon custard). On the top is covered with italian style meringue and baked in the oven.

Let’s see what we need.

Ingredients:

– The basis of shortcrust pastry lemon scented (for the recipe click here)

– Lemon custard:

• 70 g butter
• 130 grams of sugar
• 2 eggs
• the juice of 2 lemons
• the grated rind of 2 lemons

– Custard:

• 125 ml of milk
• 1 egg yolk
• 50 grams of sugar
• 15 g flour
• small lemon zest

– Italian-style meringue:

• 3 eggs white
• 150 grams of sugar
• the lemon juice, filtered with a strainer 
• a pinch of vanilla extract

For the lemon custard: in bain-marie melt the butter, then add the sugar, eggs, lemon juice and zest. Mix well with a hand whisk to make smooth paste, without mounting it. Let it cook until it thickens. Filter it through a strainer and place in refrigerator to cool. This cream seems to me every time a miracle… without neither flour nor starch thickens quietly.

For the custard: In a saucepan, boil the milk with the lemon zest and half of the sugar and then turn off 
the heat. In a tall, narrow non-stick pan, mix the egg with the other half of the sugar, even if only with a 
spoon. At this point add the flour, sifted I recommend, and mix well. 
Add the hot milk to the mixture (even all together) by removing the lemon zest. Cook in a non-stick pan over
 very low heat until it reaches a good density, stirring constantly to prevent sticking. 
Put everything in the fridge to cool.

Take the base of shortcrust pastry and, after mixing in a container the two custards (the normal one and the lemon one) stuff the tart with a spatula.

For the meringue Italian Style: A bain-marie heat the whites eggs with the sugar.

Then add the vanilla and the lemon juice and, with the help of an electric mixer, beat the eggs until they are stiff and dry.

With a sac a poche with a smooth or ribbed nozzle  (in the pictured I used the smooth one), or simply with a spoon, spread a generous layer of meringue over the cake.

Sprinkle with sugar and place under a hot grill for a few minutes, until the tufts of meringue will be colored (but the inside should be soft!).
Chill and serve cold. If you do it the day before we believe is even better!
And now, after so much effort … enjoy it … it’s really beautiful and delicious !!!