INGREDIENTS:

 

For the mixture:

150 grams of flour

A pinch of salt

90 grams of butter

One egg yolk

 A teaspoon and a half of sugar

Three or four teaspoons of water

 

For the filling:

A lemon

Two tablespoons of sugar

Two teaspoons of corn flour (Am. corn starch)

Two eggs

 A teaspoon of butter

 120 grams of sugar

 

PREPARATION:

Sieve the flour and salt over a bowl, add the butter chopped into pieces. Mix with the tips of the fingers, add the beaten egg yolk with two teaspoons of water and the sugar. Mix together with a spatula until the mixture acquires body (add a little more water if necessary). Make a ball, work the mixture a little out of the bowl and leave it covered in the fridge for half an hour.

Take it out, roll out with the rolling pin until you get a layer hardly half a centimetre thick. Grease-paper the mould (Am. mold) make a hole in the bottom or add some vegetables so that the cake does not hollow and bake in a hot oven for fifteen minutes. Take out, leave to cool and take out of the mould.

While the mixture is in the oven, cut the lemon rind into very fine strips (do not cut the pith). Squeeze out the juice and put to one side. Put the rind in a small saucepan with two level tablespoons of sugar and a quarter of a litre of water, heat over a low flame until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and take off the heat.

Dissolve the corn flour in a bowl with three tablespoons of lemon juice, add the prepared syrup through a strainer and, without stirring, add the yolks one by one and then the butter. Stir. The mixture should become thick, if it does not thicken, hold it over the heat without allowing it to boil. Spread the cream over the cake mixture.

Whip the egg whites to a stiff froth, adding half the sugar when the whites begin to froth up and the rest (except for a teaspoon) at the end. Spread the meringue over the cream, making sure it does not go over the edges, and sprinkle on the sugar left over then bake in a medium oven for half an hour.

Serve cool.