When Life Gives You Lemons… Add Meringue and Call it a National Day
Australia is a nation that will celebrate just about anything if it means food is involved –
Lamington Day, Fairy Bread Day, even National Vegemite Day (which is less a celebration and more a salty rite of passage).
But every 15 August, something truly magnificent rises from the oven: National Lemon Meringue Pie Day.
If you’ve never had lemon meringue pie, I can only assume you’ve either been living under a rock or trapped in a pavlova-only household.
Picture this: a crisp, buttery pastry base; a tangy, silky lemon filling that makes your cheeks pucker; and a cloud of sweet, fluffy meringue that’s browned just enough to make you feel like a dessert MasterChef.
It’s a dessert of balance. Sweet meets sour. Soft meets crisp. “I’ll just have one slice” meets “Oh no… how is half the pie gone already?”
The Great Aussie Pie Debate
Some might say lemon meringue pie is an American thing – and yes, they did slap their flag on the day… but Aussies know a good dessert when we see one.
If we can claim Russell Crowe and Phar Lap, we can absolutely claim lemon meringue pie.
A Recipe for Disaster (or Brilliance)
Baking lemon meringue pie at home is a bit like building IKEA furniture – it seems straightforward, but one wrong move and you’re crying into your whisk.
Undercook the lemon filling? You’ve got lemon soup in pastry. Overwhip the meringue? You’ve made lemon meringue cloud storm. Forget to seal the edges? The meringue will shrink back faster than your willpower at a bake sale.
But when you nail it, you’ll feel like you deserve your own cooking show – or at least a smug post on Instagram with the caption “just whipped this up”.
The Official National Lemon Meringue Pie Day Rules
There aren’t any. Which is why you can:
- Eat it for breakfast (fruit = healthy).
- Skip dinner and have pie instead.
- Hide it from your family and eat it straight from the tin.
- Or make it to bring it to the Autism Advisory & Support Service Office to share with the sweet toothed staff!
So, this National Lemon Meringue Pie Day, don’t just let life give you lemons – bake the pie, cut a generous slice, and remind yourself that some rules in life are meant to be deliciously broken.
