Gin & grapefruit meringue pie

Serves 4 Ready-made shortcrust pastry For the filling: 350ml grapefruit juice 150ml lemon juice 100ml gin 50ml water 240g caster sugar 1tsp salt Zest of 1 grapefruit 4tbsp cornflour 170g butter 6 egg yolks, 2 whole eggs For the meringue: 4 egg whites 350g golden caster sugar 1tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1 Preheat the oven to 190ºc/ 375ºf/gas mark 5. Dust a surface with flour and roll out the pastry until it’s the thickness of a 50p piece. Line a 24cm/9in-deep tart tin with the pastry, leaving a slight overhang.

2 Chill for 10 minutes, then line the pastry with greaseproof paper filled with baking beans and blind bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, take out the baking beans and greaseproof paper, and bake for a further 10 minutes.

3 Take out and leave to cool. Lower the oven temperature to 120ºc/250ºf/gas mark 1-2. When cool, trim the pastry edge away with a knife. 4 For the filling, add the juices, water, sugar, salt and zest to a pan and bring to the boil. Mix the cornflour and gin to form a smooth paste and whisk this into the juice until it starts to thicken. Lower the heat and add the butter, whisking until melted. Take the pan off the heat and beat in the eggs until you have a smooth consistency. Strain the filling into the tart tin and level out with a spatula. Return to the oven for 30 minutes. 5 To make the meringue, place the sugar in a saucepan and add 4tbsp of water. Turn on the heat and, without stirring, boil until the sugar is melted. Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks, gradually pouring in the sugar syrup until it is all incorporated. With a metal spoon, top the tart with the meringue, creating lovely peaks as you go. 6 Heat the oven to 180ºc/350ºf/gas mark 4, and bake for 10 minutes until golden brown on top.