Mini lemon meringue pies

To make the sweet pastry
If making pastry by hand, sieve the flour and icing sugar together into a bowl. With the tips of your fingers, rub in the cubed butter until it is all worked in and the mix resembles fine bread crumbs. Use a knife to work in the egg yolk and water, then bring together to form a dough. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 20 minutes. (To make pastry in a food processor, add the ingredients in the same order as above.)

Roll out the pastry and use to line six lightly greased 10cm mini tartlet tins. Trim away excess pastry.

Prick the pastry lightly with a fork, then cut squares of parchment paper to line and fill the pastry cases with baking beans or rice. Bake blind in an oven preheated to 180 Celsius (fan oven) for 15 minutes until the pastry is par-baked. Remove from oven and remove paper and beans.

To make the lemon curd
Using a heavy based stainless steel saucepan, add in the sugar and cornflour. Over a medium-high heat gradually pour in water, lemon juice and zest and bring to the boil, stirring with a wooden spoon or whisk until translucent and thickened.

Remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks (if the lemon curd is too tart for your taste, add more sugar). Allow to cool.

To make the meringue
Use an electric whisk to beat the egg whites in a spotlessly clean bowl until you get soft peaks. Gradually fold in the sugar with a spoon until the mixture is glossy and holding stiff peaks.

To assemble
Spoon the lemon curd over the baked pastry. Pipe meringue on top (or spoon the meringue over the filling).

Bake for 12-15 minutes on the middle shelf of the oven until the meringue is golden.

NB You can buy 10cm tartlet tins in specialist kitchen supply shops, such as Home Store and More. Stockists in Dublin city centre include Sweeney O'Rourke on Pearse Street, the Kitchen Whisk on Wicklow Street, and Stock Design on South King Street. This recipe will fill a 20cm pie dish. Simply increase baking times for a single pie.