Ginger Lemon Curd Petite Pies Recipes

GINGER-LEMON CURD PETITE PIES

Steps:

• In 1-quart saucepan, mix granulated sugar and cornstarch. Stir in lemon peel, lemon juice, eggs and ginger with whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat about 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils. Remove from heat; pour into medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 30 minutes or until completely cool.
• Meanwhile, heat oven to 375°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper. On lightly floured surface, roll 1 pie crust to 1/8-inch thickness. With 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 16 rounds (you may need to reroll scraps to get 16 rounds). Place on cookie sheet. With fork, poke holes all over rounds. Repeat with second pie crust-except don't poke with fork. With 1 1/2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out flower or heart from center of second batch of rounds. Place on cookie sheet.
• Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks; cool completely.
• To serve, place 1 plain pastry round in each of 16 jumbo paper baking cups. Top each with about 1 tablespoon lemon curd. Sprinkle powdered sugar over rounds with flower or heart cutouts; place 1 round over lemon curd in each cup.

GINGERED LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• Stir flour, salt and sugar in medium bowl to blend. Add butter and shortening and rub in with fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in enough ice water by teaspoonfuls until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour. (Can be prepared 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. Soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)
• Roll out dough on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Trim dough, leaving 1/2-inch overhang. Fold edge under and crimp. Freeze crust 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Line crust with foil. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake until crust is set, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake crust until golden and baked through, about 8 minutes. Cool completely.
• Finely chop ginger with 1 cup plus 6 tablespoons sugar in processor until moist paste forms, about 25 seconds. Combine lemon juice, water and ginger paste in heavy medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Bring to boil. Remove from heat. Let steep 1 hour at room temperature.
• Strain lemon mixture into bowl, pressing on solids. Discard solids in strainer. Return liquid to saucepan. Add cornstarch; whisk until dissolved. Whisk in yolks. Whisk over medium-high heat until mixture boils and thickens, about 5 minutes. Transfer mixture to bowl; cool. Cover and chill until cold, about 3 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. keep chilled.)
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Spoon filling into crust,smoothing top. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites in large bowl until foamy. Gradually add 1/3 cup sugar, beat until stiff and glossy. Mix in vanilla. Spoon meringue over filling, spreading to edge of crust to seal. Bake pie until meringue is light golden, about 5 minutes. Let stand at least 5 minutes and up to 1 hour before serving.

LEMON-GINGER TART

Steps:

• Make the crust: Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Whisk together flour, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Drizzle in melted butter and, using a spatula, mix until it's well combined (it'll have a sort of Play-Doh texture). Press this into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan (or you can use a 9-inch springform pan, going about an inch up the sides), using a measuring cup to flatten and make sure it's all even.
• Bake the tart shell until it's a pale golden brown on the edges and baked through on the bottom (it will lose that greasy shine), 15 to 20 minutes.
• Make the filling and assemble: In a medium bowl, whisk together lemon juice, sugar, egg yolks, egg, flour, ginger, turmeric and salt. Make sure no lumps remain, but be careful not to overmix. Pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to make sure no bits of flour or egg are left behind. Add lemon slices, if using, and stir to coat. Set the lemon slices aside.
• Transfer filling to the crust (depending on the depth of your pan, you may have a few tablespoons left over). Lay reserved lemon slices across the top. Bake until the edges are set and the center no longer jiggles, but does not look dry, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely before slicing.