What kind of price difference are we talking about? You only need one package.

I'm not quite sure, I will check the next time, but a pack which is double the size is much cheaper than in migros. My cheesecake cakes are quite large, 26cm round tin, so I need a pack and half, usuallly.

This thread keeps taunting me to make a pie... So I just bought a pack at Migros today and I'll make one this weekend.

The petite beurre were 1.35 & the Maria biscuits were 1.45. They had multi packs for less.

I never go to Aldi, so unless they are free, I think 1.35/1.45 is OK. I'd spend more on petrol going there then I'd save.

Oh, and the small Migro near my house also had both types of condensed milk in a can.

Gee ..... I really have to go buy some lemons tomorrow and make this pie!

Will be doing the water recipe ... the glossy lemon curd one.... mmmmmmyum!

I hope u guys can post some pics!

With all your ideas and help I found the perfect recipe I finally want to try this weekend.

BUT I have two more questions:

How hot is a "moderately hot" oven?
How much is a "cup", how many grams?

Promise to post a picture of the pie that kept this thread running...

A cup of sugar ( being an average sized coffee mug, ) is approx 200grams of regular sugar.
A moderate oven is about 180C, a moderately hot one is 190-200C. Happy baking. :-)

It depends. A cup of what? Sugar, wheat flour, cocoa, rice flour, etc, etc have different weights. Look for an online ingredient converter. Don't do a straight volume to grams conversion.

You can also get cup measures at the bigger supermarkets.

I didn't make the pie. I made the cinnamon rolls! I did take pics so I'll try to get them up on the what you cook thread.

This is my mums recipe and she makes it every other week for church bake sales. I doubt you will find a simpler one.

She no longer bothers making the pastry. Instead she buys the small tartlet shells from the shop. Up to you though.

There are three parts to this: the pastry, the lemon filling and the meringue top.

(a cup contains 250ml)

PASTRY
(tip: buying the small pastry shells from the shops makes this recipe complete within 20mins, but if you must)
1. Sift 1 1/2 cups plain flour and 3 teaspoons icing sugar into bowl and rub in 140g butter
2. Add 1 egg yolk and enough of the 2 tablespoons water to make the mixture cling together in a ball
3. Gently knead until smooth, cover and put in fridge for 30mins
4. Roll dough and place in lightly greased 24cm tin, trim edges
5. Line pastry with baking paper filled with uncooked rice and bake at 190C for 10min
6. Remove rice and bake further 10min or until lightly browned; let pastry cool

LEMON FILLING
1. In a saucepan combine 1/2 cup cornflour and 1 cup castor sugar, gradually stir in 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1 cup water until smooth
2. Stir over medium-high heat until mixture is quite thick, then reduce heat and stir for 30 seconds
3. Remove from heat and stir in 2 teaspoons lemon rind, 3 egg yolks and 60g butter until butter is melted
4. Allow to cool and spread filling into prepared pastry dish

MERINGUE
(tip: eggs at room temperature, bowl and beaters are clean and dry)

1. In a small bowl beat 3 egg whites until peaks form
2. Gradually add 1/2 cup fine white sugar and continue to beat until all sugar disolved
3. Top the lemon filled pastry dish making pretty peaks on top
4. Bake in 180C oven for 5 minutes or until lightly browned

Sarel, some of the Coop and Migros locations have measuring cups in their kitchen-supply section (where they also have wooden utensils, pans, baking dishes, etc). The latest cups (from Coop) have liquid and dry measurements on them, the liquid shows oz, cups, liters and deciliters, the dry has gram markings for flour and sugar.

I have taken to writing recipes I use often into a small notebook and making notation of the conversions between imperial and metric for all measured things. So far, using the measuring cup I described, I've not had anything turn out wrong from improper measurement. (Improper conversion figure or writing it down wrong sure, but measurement itself has worked ) I simply use the dry that most closely resembles the ingredient, sugar side for anything large granulated, like crumbs, cornmeal and the like, and flour side for cocoa powder, powdered sugar and things like that.

I think someone else has linked this page (or a similar one) before, it is a site with cooking conversions: Online Conversion.

Good luck and have fun baking!

I'm just heading out to get some last ingredients and now I'd like to know what the difference is between castor sugar and icing sugar. Is there castor sugar in switzerland???

Mainly the difference has to do with how finely ground the crystals are. There is castor sugar, the "feinster zucker" from Coop for example, is castor sugar. Icing sugar is "puderzucker".

Ok, pie done...
everything seemed to go well, from pastry to filling and meringue...
but it doesn't seem that they want to be together...
the pastry s gone soggy and the meringue is still sticky...
no chance to take it out of the form...

compared to the recipes you all posted, I did it the same way...
but I did take icing sugar for everything... mistake???

Absolutely perfect recipe!

Oops! Yes, the icing sugar was a mistake. That is the powdered sugar that is used for making icing (frosting). Castor sugar looks the same as regular white sugar, except it is smaller crystals. IF you can't get that here, you have two choices : 1) put regular sugar in a blender and rotate it till it is a finer texture. Or 2) just use regular sugar - this will work for the merangue topping, though may feel slightly "gritty" in th efinished product.

If the pastry is soggy, then it may have been too soft when you put in the sauce mixture, thus letting the sauce seep through the pastry.

Or, you may have baked at too low a temperature, which lets the butter "weep" and soggys up the whole pastry.

Or, you didn't bake the pastry long enough for it to be well cooked and well sealed.

Did you use a sweet pastry recipe that also containaed sugar? If you used the icing sugar there, it probably had the same softened effect. Regular sugar is fine for any sweet (short) pastry, you don't need to use castor sugar for making that.

I bet your pie still tastes good though.

Sounds like the mystery is solved then.
I just couldn't be bothered to make an effort about the castor sugar but next time I sure will!!!

Good thing is, it really looks good and the bit I tried is really jummy...

very helpful tips...thanks

Next time just substitute regular white sugar for "castor sugar". The difference is minimal. But the difference between powder/icing sugar is much greater.