"Meringue is made of egg whites... So, a vegan Italian meringue is just impossible!" Well, that's what we thought too. Until another cooking blog (Vegetable Revolution) discovered that you can whip up eggless whites... but with chickpea juice (yes yes, the juice found in canned chickpeas that we always throw away)!

Alright, it may sound gross... Chickpea juice in my meringue? At first, we were a bit scared of the outcome. Because even if the texture is uncannily identical to the recipe with eggs, one could doubt the taste.

And then, we had quite a surprise! It's simply meringue. The difference between the meringue we usually make with eggs is downright undetectable! The texture is there, the taste is there (even the salt from the juice doesn't tease your taste buds, we promise!).

As a result, we didn't hesitate to make our Italian meringue recipe. The difference between the Italian and French meringue is the "cooking". The Italian version is "cooked" with a 116°C syrup. The meringue will be much creamier. On a lemon tart, it's amaaaazing!

By the way, if you don't know what to do with the rest of the chickpeas you've drained of their juice, you can always use them to make a hummus or, why not, some falafels! That way, you'll have your appetizer, main course, and dessert :-).

Now, we still need to tell you about our adventures because we struggled! When it was time to make the lemon cream... no more gas in the bottle. We had to look for a Butagaz dealer in the area and let's just say that in Lyon, in the 6th district, it's mission impossible. And when you don't have a car... well, it's a hassle!

For our lemon meringue tart recipe, we needed a bit more equipment than usual: a mixer to whip up the chickpea juice, a thermometer for the syrup temperature, and a blowtorch. But, in the end, it's not very complicated, you'll see ;-).