Lemon meringue pie was a bit hit in our house growing up. This one is a take on the old classic, it doesn't have a pastry base and obvs is not lemon. I don't recall passionfruit being available when I was growing up, too exotic for the Irish shores. Oh how times have changed. This is a no-bake pie, well unless you count blow torching the top. Creamy meringue goodness.
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
Base
150g pitted medjool dates
80g almonds
70g desiccated coconut
50g almond butter
1 tbsp. maple syrup
3 tbsp. coconut butter, melted
Filling
Pulp 3 passionfruit
1 tin condensed milk (395g)
3 egg yolks
Topping
4 egg whites
250g caster sugar
1/2 cream of tartar
Method
Grease a tart tin. Blitz all the base ingredients in a food processor. Tip it out into the tart tin and press the crumble down. Place in the fridge.
3/4 fill a saucepan with water. Place the filling ingredients in a bowl big enough to cover the saucepan but one that doesn't sink in and place it on top of the saucepan. As the water starts to heat, whisk the mixture frequently until it starts to thicken. It should take about 20 minutes. Leave to cool. Once cooled, pour and spread onto the base and put back into the fridge while you get on with the meringue topping
In a grease free bowl, add the egg whites and the cream of tartar and beat the eggs to stiff peaks. Slowly add one spoon of caster sugar at a time, leaving a minute or so between each addition. The meringue should be shiny once beaten and if you taste it, there shouldn't be any gritty sugar granules remaining.
Pipe the meringue mixture on top of the tart or get a palette knife and smooth it on top. You can blow torch the top to give it a bit of colour or put it under the grill for a few minutes until browned. Watch it like a hawk or it will burn.