Preparation

• Begin preparing the lemon meringue pie by making the lemon curd.

  In a saucepan, combine the sugar and egg yolks and whisk them together.

  Then add the water and, whisking continuously, gradually incorporate the flour and cornstarch.

  Thicken over the heat until it reaches a boil, stirring constantly.
  
  
  
  Off the heat, add to the cream: grated lemon zest, lemon juice, a pinch of salt, and the piece of butter.
  
  
  
  Mix well and let it cool completely covered with plastic wrap making contact with the surface.
  
  
  
  

• In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and cold butter cut into pieces, and quickly work these ingredients together.

  Add cold water and continue to work just enough to obtain a homogeneous dough.

  Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for a few hours, no less than half an hour.
  
  
  
  After this time, take the dough, roll it out with a rolling pin between two sheets of parchment paper, using a little flour.

  The final thickness should be about 1/8 inch.
  
  
  
  Place the dough into a preferably removable-bottom pan.

  Create a border about 1 1/4 inches high so that the brisée shell can easily hold the cream.

  Place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
  Preheat the oven to 428°F, then reduce it to 356°F when you bake.

  Remove the prepared base from the fridge, prick it, and bake for 20 minutes using the blind baking method, covering the shell surface with a sheet of parchment paper containing dried beans or rice or with specific ceramic balls.
  
  
  
  Then remove the parchment paper with the beans.

  Bake for another 10 minutes or so until the edges are golden and the previously covered base is dry and slightly golden.

  Let cool inside the pan and unmold the lemon meringue pie base only when it is completely cold.
  
  

• Put a saucepan on the heat containing the water and 145 grams of sugar and cook on low heat.
  Measure the temperature with the special thermometer and finish cooking as soon as it reaches 249°F. If you don’t have a sugar thermometer, turn off the heat once it comes to a boil and a transparent syrup with obvious bubbles rising from the bottom is obtained.
  
  
  
  Meanwhile, start whipping the egg whites with 35 grams of sugar with the electric whisks or the stand mixer. By adding 1/5 of the total sugar to the egg whites being whipped, it is avoided that the meringue becomes grainy and especially not glossy.
  I do not recommend using salt to whip the egg whites, as this could compromise the success of the meringue.
  Then pour the syrup in a thin stream into the bowl containing the egg whites, but not directly onto them. Then add the vanillin and work with the whisks at high speed until the meringue, warmed by the syrup, has lost most of its heat and is thus only slightly warm.
  
  
  
  Transfer it immediately into a piping bag with a medium striped nozzle.
  

• Transfer the brisée shell to the serving plate.

  Remember that the dessert, once completed, if you do not have a torch to brown the meringue, will have to be put back in the oven on grill function, so use a serving plate that withstands high temperatures.

  Fill the lemon meringue pie shell with the lemon cream previously worked with the whisk, if necessary.
  
  
  
  With the piping bag, decorate the surface with many tufts starting from the edge, being careful not to leave space between them.
  
  
  
  If you have a torch, darken the meringue tufts with it, otherwise preheat the oven on grill function at high temperature and brown the meringue by baking for 5 minutes or more depending on the oven.

  Your lemon meringue pie is now ready.
  
  
  
  Let cool in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.