At some point in our lives, we or somebody we know will struggle with an allergy. While some people will be allergic to dust or pollen, others get the shorter end of the stick and are plagued by food sensitivities that restrict them from eating some of the best dishes in the world!

Over the last decade, advanced allergy testing has revealed that more of us are intolerant of lactose or gluten than we originally thought. Luckily, we’re living in an era where almost anything can be made with substituted ingredients! In honor of National Lemon Meringue Pie Day on August 15th, we wanted to share an alternative recipe that will allow you or your loved ones to still be able to enjoy the legendary pie - even if you have food allergies.

For the pastry:

125 g lactose-free margarine instead of butter

250g plain gluten-free flour instead of white flour

2 tbsp fine caster sugar

¼ tbsp salt

1 egg yolk (keep the white for the meringue)

2 ½ tbsp cold water

For the filling:

2 tbsp lactose-free margarine instead of butter

⅓ cup gluten-free plain flour instead of white flour

⅓ cup gluten-free corn flour instead of white flour

250g fine caster sugar

250 ml lemon juice

250 ml water

6 egg yolks (keep the white for the meringue)

For the meringue:

7 egg whites (used from the yolks mentioned above)

A pinch of cream of tartar

375g fine caster sugar

1 ½ tbsp vanilla essence

And there you have it. A gluten or lactose allergy shouldn’t stop any of us from indulging in the desserts we love most. While pastries, cakes and cookies are legendary for containing gluten and lactose, they can always be made allergen-free by drumming up a bit of creativity and substituting out the problematic ingredients. Food sensitivities may not be much fun, but there’s no reason why they should get in the way of you living your best culinary life!