Small, almost bitesized tarts that ooze with the sour-sweet glory lemon meringue. A crispy tart shell filled with tart lemon curd and then the sweet meringue on top. You cannot disagree that this little pie is as popular as it is.
MINI LEMON MERENGUE TARTS
24 TARTS
SHORT CRUST PASTRY:
150 G FLOUR
75 G BUTTER
1/4 TSP. SALT
60 G ICING SUGAR
30 G EGG YOLKS
1/4 VANILLA POD
JUICE AND ZEST OF 1/4 LEMON
Blitz flour, butter and salt in a food processor until it resembles breadcrumbs, you can also use a hand-held whisk and “chop” it to the same texture.
In a separate blend bowl, icing sugar, egg yolks, vanilla grains, lemon zest and juice into a creamy mixture.
Stir the egg mixture in the dry ingredients until it just sticks together.
Form the pastry dough on a table to a soft and pliable ball.
Place the dough between two pieces of cling film and roll it out to a square of approx. 1 cm thickness.
Wrap it in the film and place it in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
When the dough is cold, roll it out to a thickness of 3mm.
Cut the dough into 24 circles with a cutter of approx. 7 cm in dia.
Line a mini-cupcake tin with the dough circles. Fold them gently into the mold and press the dough into the sides, cut off excess dough and prick holes in the bottom with a fork.
Chill the dough for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celsius.
Place a piece of aluminum foil on top of the tart shell and fill them with ceramic baking beans, dried beans or rice, making sure the dough does not puff up.
Bake the tart shells for approx. 15-17 min.
Let the them cool off completely on a rack.
FILLING:
270 G LEMON CURD
Fill a piping bag with the lemon curd and divide it between the shells, filling them up 3/4 of the way.
MERINGUE:
150 G SUGAR
3 EGG WHITES:
Heat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
Add sugar a little at a time to form a shiny meringue, with stiff peaks.
Fill a piping bag with a star tip with the meringue and pipe a layer of meringue on top of the lemon curd.
Bake the tarts in the oven, approx. 10 min, until the meringue colours.