Honey Lemon Meringue Pie

This was seriously delicious.  I made it during dinner prep on a Monday and then served it for dessert after Family Home Evening.  It was easy, my meringue looked beautiful, and it is grain-free and sweetened entirely with honey.  Go forth.

Honey Lemon Meringue Pie

Prepare coconut crust, lemon curd filling, and honey meringue, in that order.  Then assemble.  Then eat.

Coconut Crust
4 tablespoons butter or coconut oil or some combination of the two
2 cups dried, unsweetened coconut
2 tablespoons honey
Rind of 1/2 of a lemon


Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place all of the ingredients in a food processor or fancy blender and blend until well combined. Press into 1 large or 4 small pie tarts. Bake in the oven for approx 10 minutes.

Lemon Curd Filling
.5 C freshly squeezed lemon juice
.25 C honey
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
.55 C unsalted butter (just more than one stick)

Create a double boiler by filling a medium saucepan with water to the halfway point and placing a metal mixing bowl on top. (Make sure it can't fall in.) Whisk the eggs, lemon juice, and honey well to combine before stirring with a wooden spoon over the simmering water. Once the curd has thickened, continue to stir for a further 5 minutes. At this stage the curd should be thick and velvety. Remove the curd from the heat and quickly whisk the cold butter into the curd until it's completely dissolved. (See note.)

Honey Meringue
5 egg whites
3 tablespoons of honey

Pour 2 inches of water in a saucepan and place a metal bowl on top. (Ensure bowl isn't touching the water.) Whisk the egg whites and honey over medium heat for 5 minutes or until warm to touch. Remove from heat and beat with an electric mixer or whisk until it becomes thick and holds its shape.
 
Assembling Pie
Turn oven up to 350 degrees. Place lemon curd into cooked coconut crust and top with honey meringue. Place in oven for 5-10 minutes or until it is a light golden brown on top. Refrigerate the pie for a couple of hours to thicken the lemon curd, or if you don't mind the curd being runny, it can be served straight away.

Note: You may have extra lemon curd depending on the size of your pie dish. If you have extra curd, you can halve the recipe in future or the curd can be stored in the fridge for 3 days and used to top other desserts, pancakes, etc.

Adapted from http://www.marinyacottagekitchen.com/1/post/2013/05/grain-and-nut-free-lemon-meringue-pie-thermomix.html