Lemon Meringue Tartlets Recipes

LEMON-MERINGUE TARTLETS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place six 3 1/4-inch tart rings on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet and set aside.
• On a lightly floured work surface, roll out pate sucree into a 10-by-15-inch rectangle, about 1/8 inch thick. Carefully transfer dough to a baking sheet; chill until firm.
• Using a 4 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter, cut out six circles from dough and fit each circle into prepared tart rings, pressing crust into bottom and against sides; chill until firm. Trim edges to make even. Line chilled tart shells with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until bottom of crust is lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Remove pie weights and parchment paper; pierce bottom of dough with tines of a fork. Reduce temperature to 325 and continue baking until crust is golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes more. Carefully remove tart rings and transfer tart shells to a wire rack to cool.
• Fill cooled tart shells with lemon curd. Pipe about 1/4 cup meringue onto the surface of each tartlet in a decorative pattern. Transfer tartlets to freezer until chilled.
• Using a kitchen torch, toast meringue, moving flame back and forth until evenly browned, or place tartlets under a preheated broiler for 1 to 2 minutes to brown.

MINI LEMON MERINGUE TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Arrange tart shells on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until heated through, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven; leave oven on.
• Whisk egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, butter, lemon juice, and zest together in a medium bowl. Whisk in buttermilk. Add flour and salt; whisk well.
• Pour filling into the tart shells, filling them almost to the top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until filling rises and appears set, about 15 minutes. Watch carefully to avoid overcooking.
• Prepare meringue while the tarts are baking. Beat egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed until frothy. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar and cream of tartar; continue beating until meringue is stiff and shiny.
• Top baked tarts with meringue. Ensure that you press the meringue down to form a seal around the edges.
• Return tarts to oven and bake until meringue starts to brown, about 10 minutes more. Let cool before serving.

LEMON MERINGUE TART

Steps:

• Combine the flour, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Put the flour mixture in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and shortening and pulse about 10 times until the butter is in small bits. Add the ice water and process until the dough comes together. Dump on a well-floured board and form into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Roll out the dough and fit into a 9-inch tart pan with removable sides. Don't stretch the dough when placing it in the pan or it will shrink during baking. Cut off the excess by rolling the pin across the top of the pan. Line the tart shell with a piece of buttered aluminum foil, butter side down, and fill it with dried beans or rice. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the beans and foil and prick the bottom of the shell all over with a fork to allow the steam to escape. Bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
• Raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees F.
• For the meringue, whip the egg whites, cream of tartar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on high speed until frothy. With the mixer still running, slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and beat until the meringue is thick and shiny, about 2 minutes.
• Immediately spread the lemon filling in the cooled tart shell and pipe the meringue over it with a large star tip. Be sure the meringue covers the entire top and touches the edges of the shell, to prevent it from shrinking. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes, until the meringue is lightly browned. Cool to room temperature.
• Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 1 minute. On low speed, add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, and then add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt. Don't worry; it will look curdled.
• Pour the mixture into a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until thick, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Whisk briskly when it starts to thicken and cook over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Don't allow it to boil! It will be 175 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Pour into a bowl and cool to room temperature.

LEMON MERINGUE TARTLETS

Steps:

• Spoon a little of the lemon curd into each pastry shell. Pipe a swirl of meringue on top and serve.
• To make lemon curd:
• Combine all of the ingredients, except butter, and whip over a double boiler. Whisk the mixture until thickened. Strain the curd into a mixing bowl and mix with paddle to cool.
• Once the mixture is 140 degrees F add the butter and mix until cool. Store refrigerated, well wrapped, until ready to use.
• To make meringue:
• In a double boiler heat the egg white and sugar until all the graininess of the sugar has dissolved.
• Whip the mixture until cooled and thickened into a shiny meringue, about 4 to 7 minutes.

LEMON MERINGUE TARTS

Steps:

• For the crust: Place 12 identical 3 1/4-inch brioche a tete molds in the freezer.
• Combine flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to 2 to 4 times, then add butter and pulse 8 to 10 times, until texture looks mealy and no large lumps of butter remain. Pour on water and pulse 5 times. (At this point, the mixture should hold together when squeezed.) Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and draw the plastic up around it, squeezing and pressing the dough into a ball. Flatten into a 1-inch-thick disk and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap and place on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper. Dust the top of the disk with a small amount of flour and top with a second sheet of parchment. Roll dough out into a round 1/8-inch thick. Use a 5-inch biscuit cutter and cut 6 circles out of the dough. Re-roll once if necessary.
• Remove the brioche molds from the freezer. Line 6 of the molds with the dough, being careful to press the dough into all the nooks and crannies. Gently run the rolling pin over the tops of the molds to trim the edges. Nestle each of the empty brioche molds inside the molds with the dough. Place the sandwiched molds in the freezer refrigerator for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and position a rack in the center of the oven with a second just beneath it.
• Remove the sandwiched molds from the freezer. Place them, inverted, directly on the center rack with a sheet pan on the rack below to catch any butter that might render out. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the molds from the oven. Flip right-side up and remove the top molds.
• Turn the oven up to 400 degrees F, return the tart shells to the oven and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes more. Remove the tart shells from the oven and let cool completely on a baking rack before removing the shells from the molds.
• For the lemon filling: Whisk egg yolks until light in color in a medium nonreactive bowl and set aside.
• Whisk cornstarch, sugar, water and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and temper the yolks by slowly adding the hot starch mixture to them in a steady stream, whisking constantly, until a third of the starch mixture has been worked into the eggs, then return that mixture to the saucepan. Whisk in the butter and continue heating until just boiling.
• Stir in the lemon juice and zest, reduce heat to medium-low and whisk constantly until mixture returns to a boil. Cook for 1 full minute more, then transfer to a medium bowl over an ice bath. Cool, stirring occasionally, until the curd is just slightly warmer than room temperature. (Do not chill or cool completely, or the curd will become difficult to spread.) Pour or use a pastry or zip top bag with the corner cut off to pipe the mostly cooled curd into the tart shells until flush with the tops of the shells. Cool filled tarts completely on a baking rack while you make the meringue topping.
• For the meringue: Whisk together the egg whites until foamy, then add the sugar, cream of tartar and salt in the heat-proof bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 165 degrees F. Then return the bowl to the base of the stand mixer and whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until medium-stiff peaks form. Increase the speed to high and whip until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes total. Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip.
• Pipe the meringue to cover the top of the cooled tarts. Brown the meringue under a preheated low broiler, about 1 minute, or with a kitchen torch.

LEMON TARTLETS WITH MERINGUE CAPS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Make the shells: Put butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in egg whites, one at a time. Mix in flour and vanilla.
• Spoon 1 scant teaspoon batter onto a rimmed baking sheet lined with a nonstick baking mat. Using the back of a teaspoon, spread into a 3-inch circle. Repeat 4 times. Bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Immediately transfer cookies, one at a time, to inverted small tartlet shells or brioche molds; gently press to shape. Let set, about 30 seconds. Repeat with remaining batter. If cookies become too cool to shape, return them to oven for 20 seconds. Shells can be stored in an airtight container up to 3 days.
• Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees. Make the meringue caps: Put egg whites and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer set over a pan of simmering water; whisk until sugar has dissolved. Attach bowl to mixer fitted with the whisk attachment; beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form and meringue is cool, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a 7/16-inch star tip (such as Ateco No. 825). Pipe 20 spirals, 1 1/4 inches round and 2 inches high, onto baking sheets lined with parchment, spacing about 1 inch apart. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 150 degrees. Bake until dry but not brown, about 2 hours more. Transfer meringues to a wire rack; let cool completely. Meringues can be stored in an airtight container up to 3 days.
• Make the curd: Whisk egg yolks, lemon zest and juice, and sugar in a heavy, medium saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat until mixture registers 160 degrees on a candy thermometer, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in salt. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, stirring after each addition until smooth. Pour curd through a fine sieve into a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto surface. Refrigerate until cold and set, at least 1 hour (up to 2 days).
• To serve, spoon 2 teaspoons curd into each shell. Top each with a meringue cap.

DOLESTER MILES'S LEMON MERINGUE TART

Steps:

• In the bowl of a food processor, place flour, confectioners' sugar and salt, and quickly pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs, then add egg yolks and pulse until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch, then transfer it into a 9 1/2-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan, then trim it by rolling your rolling pin over the top of the tart pan edge. Pierce crust all over with a fork and freeze for 30 minutes. Remove from freezer, place tart pan on a baking sheet, and bake for about 20 minutes until golden. Remove tart from baking sheet and let pan cool slightly on a rack.
• Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Separate the eggs, saving 3 of the whites to use in the meringue. In a small saucepan, stir together 1/2 cup/101 grams sugar, the lemon zest and juice and the egg yolks. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until quite warm. Stir in butter and continue to cook, whisking to prevent burning, for about 7 to 10 minutes or until the mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat and stir in the white chocolate until it melts into the mixture.
• Pour lemon mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium bowl and use a spatula to press until just the solids remain. Discard the solids. Spoon mixture into the prepared tart shell and chill for 4 hours.
• Make the meringue: Set up a double boiler and bring the water in the bottom pan to a boil over medium-high heat. Combine the 3 egg whites with 3/4 cup/151 grams sugar in the top of the double boiler and whisk constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is hot.
• Pour the meringue mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip at medium-high speed for about 2 minutes then increase speed to high and whip for about 4 to 6 minutes more or until the mixture is stiff. Spoon meringue over tart and spread with an offset spatula.
• Using a kitchen torch, brown the meringue lightly, holding the torch about 2 inches away from the tart. Alternatively, place tart under a preheated broiler with the oven rack placed 8 inches from the heat source. Broil 30 to 45 seconds, watching carefully so the meringue turns golden brown and does not burn. Remove tart ring and serve immediately.