Dan Lepard’s Blueberry Cocoa Meringue Pie

Regular readers will know that BoF is a great fan of Dan Lepard’s 2011 book ‘Short & Sweet’. So much so in fact that it made up part of Mother’s Christmas pressie this year.
Today’s visit of Family (round 2) provided a great opportunity for a wow dessert, and to create this I turned to Mr Lepard for some inspiration.

We had all of the ingredients for this pud in the house, so it was a simple choice to settle upon. It’s not a difficult dish to create, but now that I’ve made it once I realise that there are some key points to get right.
I have outlined everything you need for the recipe below. I kind of feel guilty putting this straight out onto the net, but then I have now been party to the purchase of 3 copies of this book. My Mum is v chuffed with her copy of the tome. She’s a very capable cook and baker and has already commented that ‘…you don’t need another baking book…’

Dan receives the ultimate seal of approval…….

For the chocolate shortcrust pastry:
125g plain flour
25g cocoa
25g icing sugar
Pinch of salt
100g unsalted butter
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons cold water

For the filling:
125ml milk
3 medium egg yolks
2 tablespoons plain flour
1 tablespoon cornflour
3 tablespoons caster sugar
175g crème fraîche
300g fresh blueberries

For the meringue:
3 medium egg whites
125g caster sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
Cocoa for dusting

For the pastry mix the flour, cocoa, icing sugar and salt until thoroughly combined. Rub in the butter until it has disappeared and then mix the egg yolk and cold water before combining with the dry ingredients to form a soft paste. Add a little more water if necessary to bring the mixture together. This pastry is soft so chill thoroughly before rolling out.

Preheat your oven (160 degree fan / 180 degree regular) and grease a 20cm circular tart tin. Ensure you use all of the pastry mix when you roll out, or your walls will not be thick enough. Ensure the pastry comes over the walls of the tin by 3 or 4mm as it will shrink during the baking and remember to prick the base with a fork to let the steam escape. Bake the pastry blind for 25 minutes and then remove your layer of baking paper and baking beads / lentils and bake for a further 5 minutes.
Allow the base to cool and leave in the tin.

For the filling whisk the milk, egg yolks, flour, cornflour, sugar and crème fraîche in a saucepan and then bring to the boil. Once hot, the sauce will thicken very quickly due to the inclusion of the cornflour – this is nothing to be scared of. Keep whisking until you have a thick crème. If you don’t get the filling thick enough at this point it will be too runny when you cut the pie. Once thickened, add the blueberries and mash the mixture with your whisk on a low heat until the blueberry juices run and the crème is a deep purple colour.
Add the filling to the pastry case.

Whisk your leftover egg whites to a thick froth and then beat in the caster sugar. Don’t add your cornflour at this point as I did, oops!
Once the meringue is very thick and glossy, sieve and fold in the cornflour and then spread over the pie in soft peaks. Dust with cocoa powder and bake for 20 minutes at the same temperature as the case.

I was very pleased with my first stab at this pie (see the photos on the left). The cream is not too sweet so works well with the meringue, and you can really taste the cocoa in the pastry. A great desert to bring to the table.

BoF.

“Happy New Year”

No.
This will not do.

I’m a self-confessed Christmas lover. No, huf….. I’m not a chrissy.
Like most in the ‘Western World’, I find myself a hypocritical lover of all things related to the 25th of December. I don’t want to see a department store display or hear a carol ’till 01/12 but from then on, I look forward to the festive period and savour it for all of it’s mince pie glory.

That’s why it pains me to hear the “HNY’s” come thick and fast from boxing day on. No no no no no no no. For pete’s sake let me munch on my brandy butter for a few days, conscious that the next year is approaching – that I need to plan somewhere to drink cheap white on the 31st – but blissfully unaware that Christmas will end.

I’ve made the turkey curry, the bread sauce has gone that certain shade of ‘food poisening’ grey, and I’m not at all looking forward to going back to the gym. Christmas is here and there’s 8 days of it left.

BoF