Food Top Trumps #3: Mary Berry's Lemon Meringue Pie

Lemon Meringue Pie was one of my favourite puddings when I was little.

My Mum's LMP is delicious.

Spot some fabric and handles for my next bag make? They match the pie!

The thing is, I bought a pie dish (finally) earlier on in the week, and was well, just a bit too impatient to wait for her to come home from holiday (so I could get her recipe) to use it.

So, if you could all keep quiet about the fact I have used another woman's recipe instead, I'd be grateful. Okay?

That said, I think that if you have to choose another woman other than your own mum to take you through making a classic pudding, there are worse people you could choose than national treasure Mary Berry. Here's the link!

The pleasure of making this dish was almost a great as that of eating it. Those lemons smelled nostril tingling fantastic as they were being squished.

I was slightly worried the mixture looked a bit like yellowish wall paper paste for a while...

...but it all came good in the end.

Now, I'll admit now, the bottom on my finished pie is a bit soggy. Maybe I should have pricked the base a bit more with a fork, or maybe this is just always going to happen given the filling...? More pies need to be made, I feel.

Look at how clean my oven is! Not my doing - all thanks to my brother in law for paying someone to come and clean it as a surprise for me. Maybe I'll thank him with a pie...? (I wonder if he is reading this!)

 Anyhow, isn't it funny how children show a sudden interest in cooking the moment there are beaters and bowls to be licked?

The middle girl was off school poorly the day I made the pie. The two of them must have spent about an hour standing washing up (which I then needed to re wash). Simple pleasures.

Here are some pastry people, made using the leftovers.

And the moment I had been waiting for!

This pie has been such a temptation, sitting in the fridge. Not least because none of my children seem to like it very much (can you believe that?!), and so it is just there, calling to me.

Not the prettiest presentation - and maybe the curd was a bit sloppy.

But the taste. Oh my goodness.

I still cannot get over the fact my children don't like this childhood favourite of mine!

Fridge mice have been at work on the edges of the pastry. I blame the man of the house.

The scores!

1. Popular with my girls - a disappointing 1. Seeing my excitement at serving up something so special, the eldest daughter did her best to be polite. But they just didn't like it. In fact, the middle girl didn't taste it on the day it was made (due to being poorly) but still stuck the knife in by declaring "well, I know I won't like it because the white bits and the yellow bits are both yucky!".

2. Easy and simple recipe to remember - not really. This took quite a lot of effort to make, purely down to the stages involved. That said, I loved making it, and it will no doubt embed into my head. It gets a 5.

3.  Made up of things usually in the cupboard and doesn't cost too much - this gets a 9. No special ingredients, beyond more lemons that you would normally have in the house. And nothing expensive, either.

4. Vaguely healthy. Hmm - 3? There are a lot of lemons in this. When I shared my excitement at making LMP with my sister in law, she even pointed out that I could probably have two slices, and claim one of them was giving the baby one of its five a day. I'm sure lemons are packed full of vitamins, and this recipe used six big fat juicy ones. But the sugar and butter? I have probably just given myself diabetes...

5. Yummy to eat. This has to get a 10 - even taking into account the rejection from my children. What do they know? My husband has gushed about the pastry (well done, Mary) and, well. I love this dish so much I have replaced proper meals with it. (Should I admit to that?)

Bonus points for making something new - 5.

TOTAL POINTS: 33

Still a bit gutted that this has not been a hit with my children - even though I have loved making it and eating it - as this means I cannot really pretend I am making it as a selfless act next time round, and so it limits its use to occasions when other people are going to be there to help eat it, or otherwise I will end up greedily consuming it on my own and we all know that LMP does not really constitute a balanced diet once you go beyond a slice (or two) a day.

Maybe their taste buds will grow to appreciate it as they grow older?