Apple or Feijoa Meringue Pie

Serves 10 or more

Ingredients

• sweet shortcrust pastry
• 5 Granny Smith apples (or 10 good-sized feijoas)
• finely grated zest 1 lemon
• 70g ground almonds
• 1 Tbsp plain flour
• 1 Tbsp caster sugar
• 4 egg whites
• 120g caster sugar
• 1½ cups desiccated coconut

Method

1. Roll out pastry and line into a 27cm loose-bottomed flan ring (the flan ring should be on a baking sheet for support). Chill until firm.

2. Peel and core apples then slice them finely (orpeel feijoas and slice thinly). Put apples in a large bowl and toss through lemon zest.

3. Mix ground almonds, flour and caster sugar together and sprinkle over the bottom of the pastry. Put in the apples, flattening them as much as possible.

4. Whip egg whites until stiff using an electric beater. Sprinkle over sugar while machine is still running and continue beating until meringue is thick and glossy. Gently fold in coconut with a large spoon, then put meringue on top of pie in blobs, then smooth it over with a knife.

5. Have a baking sheet heating in an oven preheated to 175°C (fanbake). Transfer pie to baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes, until meringue has coloured nicely, then loosely drape the pie with tin foil to prevent the meringue over-browning. Continue cooking for 30-35 minutes (about 50 minutes in total), until the pastry is well cooked. Cool before serving.