The Extra Helping

Sharing the secret of our lemon meringue bar paired with a sweet Chenin.

I do consider this to be a closely guarded secret and one of our most popular bakes. It seems fair to put it out into the world for all to enjoy. Lemon meringue isn’t a revelation but a good one can be hard to find.

You could vary the fruit seasonally but I’ve always thought the lemon works best with the sweet meringue. It’s a classic for a reason. Variations I’ve tried include blood orange, classic orange, lemon + elderflower, rhubarb, lemon and raspberry, blackcurrant and cherry. A juicy fruit with good acidity is the key. Something to stand up to buttery shortbread and teeth melting Italian meringue. I based the recipe on the lemon bar from Tartine but reduced the sugar and fruit juice element and added more zest as I hate to waste it. Citrus that has been juiced but the zest left on represents a missed opportunity to add a lemony hit to a dish, sweet or savoury.

A recipe we have touched on before and which is a great base for lots of baked treats. Perfect for a Bakewell, millionaires shortbread or just cut out as a biscuit and iced or drizzled with chocolate. This will make enough for 9 good sized squares but would easily go between 12-15 people for a dessert, or you can scale it down into a smaller baking tray.

Lemon meringue bar

For the shortbread.

275g plain flour. You could swap out 50g of plain for whole meal or spelt for extra flavour.

175g cold butter, cubed

75g sugar