Raspberry meringue pie

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/gas 6. Start by making the tart case. Lightly dust your worktop surface with flour and roll out the pastry so it’s around 1cm thick and wide enough to cover a 24cm fluted tart tin that’s 3.5cm high. Drape the pastry over a rolling pin, then place over and into the tart tin, pressing against the edges and cutting any excess, leaving around 2cm hanging over side. Press a fork into the base of the pastry all the way around.

Scrunch up a large rectangle of baking paper and place it on top of the pastry, then fill the baking paper with baking beans. Bake for 15 mins, then remove the baking beans and bake for a further 15 mins until golden brown. Once cooked, use a small sharp knife to slice off any excess pastry around edges. Leave to cool.

To make the raspberry curd, mix the cornflour with 3 tbsp water to make it into a loose paste, then set aside. Put the raspberries, 50ml water and lime juice into a saucepan over a low heat and crush the raspberries with the back of a fork until mashed. Continue to cook the mixture, stirring occasionally, until it starts to simmer. Carry on whisking while pouring in the cornflour mixture and whisk for a few seconds until it’s thickened.

Take it off the heat and whisk in the egg yolks and then the butter. Pour into the cooked tart tin, smooth with the back of a spoon so it’s level and put in the fridge to set for 2 hrs (or overnight if you want a neat slice).

Once the curd is set, make the meringue. Place a large, clean heatproof bowl over a small pan of gently simmering water (the bowl should not touch the water). Add the egg whites and caster sugar to the bowl and whisk using a handheld electric whisk, until the sugar has dissolved and the eggs are frothy. Remove from the heat and continue to whisk for 5–6 mins until you have a thick, glossy meringue. Pile the meringue on top of the set raspberry curd and create decorative little crevices with the back of a spoon.

Finish with a chef’s mini blow torch so parts of the meringue are golden brown or put it in under a hot grill for 5 mins to caramelise.

Cook’s tip: Baking beans are used to ‘blind bake’ the pastry, but you can use dried rice or lentils instead. You can re-use the grains several times, but they won’t be suitable for eating.