Lemon Pie

The taste of this pie is built on contrasts: a sweet shell of chocolate shortcrust pastry and a sour citrus filling. Although lemons are ground together with the peel, there is not a hint of bitterness in the filling. The lemon filling shortcrust pie can be baked in advance; after a day of steeping, it becomes even tastier. The hot pastry will crumble in your hands with a light touch, while the cold pie will become 'monumental': the lemon filling will set to a jelly-like density, the shortcrust shell will remain crisp, yet it will easily yield to a knife.The rested lemon filling pie made of shortcrust pastry can be cut into both thin and thick pieces.

Serves: 8.

Cooking time: 100 minutes.

Caloric content: 393 kcal per 100 grams of the dish.

Ingredients

• flour - 450 g;
• eggs - 1 pc;
• sugar - 180 g;
• refined vegetable oil - 250 ml;
• cocoa powder - 3 tbsp;
• baking powder - 1 tsp;
• powdered sugar (for sprinkling) - 1.5 tbsp.

For the filling:

• lemons - 2 pcs;
• sugar - 300 g;
• starch - 2 tbsp.

Preparation

1. You will need fresh lemons with firm skin that 'shoots' a citrus aroma when pressed. Withered or dried lemons cannot become a tasty filling: this recipe is all about minimalism - inside the pie there are only citrus fruits and sugar.

2. The fewer eggs in the chocolate shortcrust, the more tender it is. Only one large egg is broken into the bowl.

3. Pour in the granulated sugar.

4. Pour in the refined oil.

5. Add the highest grade wheat flour.

6. Pour the cocoa powder directly onto the flour, so these two ingredients combine first, and then mix with the liquid products.

7. Measure the baking powder with a heaping teaspoon.

8. Quickly mix the chocolate dough with a spoon.

9. Then knead by hand for a minute or two. Place the bowl with the shortcrust dough in the refrigerator for half an hour.

10. Place parchment paper on the bottom of a springform pan, lightly grease the sides with oil. If there is too much oil on the sides, the dough will slide. The diameter of the pan can be within 23-26 centimeters.

11. Take 2/3 of the dough out of the refrigerator, place it in the pan, and distribute it with fingers across the bottom, while also forming low sides. Prick the dough with a fork.

12. Wash the lemons, then cut them into large pieces, removing the seeds.

13. Sprinkle the lemons with sugar.

14. Blend the lemons with a blender. It should have a grainy texture.

15. Add 2 heaping tablespoons of starch. The starch will act as a thickener, preventing the filling from leaking out of the pie.

16. Pour the lemon filling into the pan, spreading it so that the layer is of even thickness everywhere.

17. Take the remaining dough out of the refrigerator, crumble it with your hands, and sprinkle it in the pan. This dough will make the pie closed. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees, place the pan with the dough inside. After 40 minutes, remove the lemon pie from the oven.

18. The hot lemon pie is sprinkled with powdered sugar to bring in a color contrast. The shortcrust pie with lemon filling must cool in the mold, as it is very brittle when hot. The cooled pie is removed from the metal mold and cut into triangles.