Ingredients

Pie Shell

• 1 sheet ready-rolled vegan shortcrust pastry

Lemon Filling

• 550ml soya or almond milk

• 80g vegan custard powder in a tub, not a packet.

• Zest of 1 unwaxed or organic lemon (do the zesting first before squeezing the juice)

• 125ml lemon juice

• 100g caster sugar

• Generous pinch of turmeric

Meringue Topping

• 125ml aquafaba (chickpea water)

• 1 tsp cream of tartar

• 1/2 cup caster sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Line the tart tin(s) with shortcurt pastry. Place baking paper on top and fill with baking beans. Blind bake in the hot oven for 15-20 minutes, until the edges turn pale golden brown. SWitch off the oven and let it cool.

2. Make the Lemon Filling. Mix one third of the plant milk with the custard powder, sugar and turmeric. Whisk to remove any lumps. Pour into the non-stick saucepan with the remaining milk and lemon zest. Heat, stirring continuously, until the custard is thick. Stir in the fresh lemon juice and pour into the pre-baked pastry shell. Let it cool while you make the meringue.

3. Using a good electric whisk, blend the aquafaba for 5 minutes. Add the cream of tartar and continue beating until soft peaks form. It’s not a quick process but you can’t overbeat.

4. Pre-heat the oven to 100°C/200°F/Gas Mark ¾. (You’ll have to guess a bit but it’s a very very low oven basically!)

5. Slowly add the sugar to the meringue mix, 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing in thoroughly after each addition. Keep mixing until you have a bowl of fluffy meringue mix. You should be able to tip the bowl upside down without it falling out! It takes about 15-25 minutes.

6. Transfer the meringue mixture into the piping bag.

7. Line a shallow baking tray with baking parchment. If making a large tart, use the tart tin as a guide and draw round it onto the parchment, using a pencil. Fill the circle you’ve drawn with pretty, piped pyramids of meringue that touch each other and join up to make the complete meringue topping. See the picture! If you’re making smaller tarts, this can be done without the drawing as the surface area is smaller.

8. Bake in the very low oven for 2 hours without opening the oven. Use an oven timer or phone. Turn the heat off and allow the meringues to cool. Just before serving, carefully transfer the meringue topping(s) to the prepared lemon tart(s).

Maryanne Hall, Viva! Vegan Recipe Club www.veganrecipeclub.org.uk

Instagram: @veganrecipeclub