Lemon Meringue Pie, Caramel Apple and Blackberry "Granny", and Scones

This is what happens when my OH and I are pretty much stuck in the house for a few days...

For Christmas, my OH gave me a Magimix food processor, which has certainly earned it's keep since then! I've never made pastry myself before, so had a go at the recipe in the processor book.

Here's some vague recipe-type things. I didn't do anything special to the scones, so I shan't bore you with details ;-)

Lemon Meringue Pie

I lined a 10" dish with rich shortcrust pastry, blind baked for 20 mins, and filled it with lemon curd (not the best recipe I've ever used, but it was pretty quick and easy):

2 lemons, squeezed,
2oz butter,
2 eggs,
8oz sugar.

Whisk eggs a little, then heat gently in a Bain Marie, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. I found that some little lumps off egg formed, which I had to sieve out, but possibly this wouldn't have happened if I had followed my instincts and melted the butter first! I may try this again some time, as it was by far the least messy method I've used.

This was then topped with a meringue: Whites of 3 eggs whisked until stiff, and 3oz sugar added. I baked this all at 140° for 40 mins. All very successful!

Caramel Apple & Blackberry Granny

This is my attempt at a rip-off of a dessert we found at a local pub-restaurant.

Line a dish with rich shortcrust pastry, and blind bake for 15 mins. Thinly slice cooking apple into this, throw in some blackberries, sprinkle with lemon juice, then top with crumble mix. I've no idea what the best recipe for this is, I'm still experimenting, so I won't bother going into details here...

Bake this at 170° for 30 minutes or so, and in the mean time, gently heat a little condensed milk, butter, milk, and a sprinkle of dark muscovado sugar together in a pan, stirring like crazy! I can't give specific measurements, as I just threw it together... This should make a caramel sauce, which you can pour over the top of the crumble.

Very nice with cream, though I think vanilla ice-cream would probably go pretty well :-)