I'm continuing my pie kick with a lovely mixed berry meringue pie. This recipe takes a lot of prep and waiting for things to chill and cool down so make it on a day you have time to wait around or do other things while waiting.

The berries give the pie a little bit of tartness and the meringue balances it out with some sweet. This pie would be so nice for after a BBQ. If you can get the meringue to form peaks it will be even more impressive. As you can see my peaks are not very magnificent! Something to work on for next time.Even without the nice peaks the pie still tasted fine.

I'm really happy that the 2 layers came out distinct and it could be sliced fairly easy

Mixed Berry Meringue Pie

Ingredients for Filling

800g of berries

100g caster sugar

3tbs apple juice

6 tbs ground arrowroot

juice of half a lemon

5 egg yolks

60g of butter

Ingredients for Meringue

3 egg whites

175g caster sugar

Pastry

1 pack pre-made pastry

or use this recipe for fresh crust

1. Heat oven to 190 C. Roll out the pastry dough on a floured surface into a circle

Press dough into pie tin

Line with parchment paper and put beans or rice on top to keep it in place

Place in oven for 15 minutes. Remove parchment and cook for 10-12 more minutes until golden brown, set aside to cool. Turn oven down to 180 C.

2. Put the berries, sugar and apple juice in a pan over a low heat. when the sugar has melted, increase the heat a little and cook for 5-10 minutes until the berries start to break down.

I bought frozen berries from Waitrose

Whizz the berries in a food processor or blender for a few seconds. Press through a sieve to remove the seeds. Put the berries back in the pan. There should be approximately 650-700 ml of berry paste. If you don't have enough add some water.

3. In a small bowl mix the arrowroot with lemon juice until it forms a paste

I had to add extra lemon juice to make the paste

Whisk the paste into the berry mixture and cook over a medium heat until it reaches boiling point. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring continuously, until it is really thick (this step is really important). remove from the heat and beat in the yolks and butter. Cool completely, then pour into the pastry case and chill for 20 minutes to firm up. 

4. For the meringue, whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until they form stiff peaks. Gradually whisk in the sugar until you have a glossy meringue.