Almond-Lemon-Chocolate Meringue Pie

The other night, while I was reading the Culinary Artistry book, I came across an intriguing food match made from heaven. That was lemon and chocolate. To be honest, I had never thought that lemon and chocolate could pair well. So, I wrote on my to-do list to find and make an almond-chocolate-lemon dessert recipe. I also wanted the recipe to contain almonds because they go amazingly with chocolate and with lemon.

I found it impossible to find a dessert recipe containing lemon, almond and chocolate. I then decided to make up my own. I used an almond crust pie recipe from Cooks and a lemon curd and meringue recipe from Joy of Baking. After the meringue was baked, I used some chopped chocolate to sprinkle on the meringue. That made such a light and amazing dessert! And now, I don't have any doubts: lemon and chocolate are really a food match made from heaven!

Ingredients

125 mL cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup of sugar
250 mL flour
125 mL chopped blanched almonds

For the lemon curd

3 large egg
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 or 3 lemons)
175 mL granulated white sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon lemon zest

For the meringue

4 large egg whites
125 mL of sugar
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar

Chopped chocolate for garnish


Instructions
For the almond pie crust
1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add flour, almonds and sugar.
3. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Press mixture in a greased pie pan.
5. Let it cool in the fridge for 1 hour.

For the lemon curd
1. Preheat the over at 400 degrees F.
2. In a saucepan, over medium heat, whisk together the eggs, the sugar and the lemon juice until blended
3. Cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture becomes pale in color and quite thick (this step takes about 10 minutes)
4. Remove the saucepan from heat.
5. Whisk the butter to the mixture until it has melted.
6. Add the lemon zest.
7. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the lemon curd is firm.

My baked lemon curd looked like that.


For the meringue
1. Beat the eggs white until foamy in a bowl.
2. Add the cream of tartar.
3. Continue beating until soft peaks form.
4. Add the sugar gradually while whipping until stiff peak forms.
5. Place dollops of the meringue over the entire surface of the hot lemon curd using a spoon.
6. Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the meringue has nicely browned.

I loved the way the meringue looked after it was browned!


For the chocolate garnish
1. Sprinkle the chopped chocolate over the baked meringue.