Lemon ice cream cake with airy meringue glaze

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups premium flour
• 1/3 cup + 3 tablespoons sugar
• 110 g butter, cut into small pieces
• 0.5 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1 whole egg + 2 egg whites
• 800 gr. lemon ice cream, softened
• 8-10 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
• 0.5 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 175°C.
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and a pinch of salt. Add the butter and lemon zest and fold into the flour mixture with your fingers or a pastry knife until crumbly.
3. Separate the whole egg into the white and yolk, adding the white to the other two for the meringue topping. Add the yolk to the dough and knead until soft.
4. Pour the dough into a 22cm pie pan, pressing it into the bottom and up the sides. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool. Using a sharp knife, run a knife through the cake, cutting it into 10 slices. Be careful not to cut all the way through the cake to make it easier to cut when the cake is frozen.
5. Place the lemon ice cream in a large bowl and stir with a stiff spatula or wooden spoon until smooth, about 2 minutes. Stir in food coloring, if using. Spoon the ice cream into the pie shell, smoothing the surface, and freeze the pie until set, at least 2 hours or overnight.
6. Preheat oven to 250°C.
7. Place all the egg whites, the remaining 1/3 cup sugar, and a pinch of salt in a large heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water to a depth of about 2.5 cm. Whisk until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is warm and fluffy.
8. Then beat with a mixer on medium-high speed until the mixture cools and forms thick, glossy, and stiff peaks, about 2 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Spread the meringue on the frozen cake and bake in the oven until golden brown, 1-2 minutes. Slice and serve.