Lemon Raspberry Meringue Tart Recipes

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.

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 & RASPBERRY MERINGUE TART

Steps:

• Whizz the flour, butter and ¼ tsp salt in a processor until fine. Add the sugar, pulse, then tip in the egg yolks and 4 tsp cold water. Pulse to a dough, tip out onto the work surface, then quickly knead until smooth. Line a 35 x 12cm loose-bottom fluted tin (measured from the top) by pushing the pastry into the tin with your fingers. Pinch an overhang on all sides. Chill on a baking sheet chill for 30 mins.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line the tin with baking parchment and baking beans, then bake blind for 15 mins. Take the paper and baking beans out, then bake for 10-15 mins more until golden and sandy. Allow to cool. Trim the sides using a serrated knife.
• Meanwhile, put the lemon curd into a non-stick pan, then beat in the eggs and yolks. Slowly bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, until the mix becomes really thick and dark yellow, about 10 mins. Spoon into a bowl, cover the surface with cling film and cool completely. The pastry and filling can be made up to a day ahead.
• Scatter 175g raspberries over the base, then spoon over the cooled lemon curd. Now make the meringue: whisk whites in a large, clean bowl until stiff, then add the sugar in 2 batches, whisking back to shiny, stiff peaks each time. Fold in the vinegar and cornflour. Swirl the meringue over the curd and raspberries, then bake for 10 mins until meringue is lightly golden. Cool for 20 mins, then lift out of the tin onto a serving plate. Scatter remaining raspberries over, then dust with icing sugar.

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.

CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY MERINGUE TART

Steps:

• Make the tart dough: Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until a coarse meal forms. Add egg and pulse just until a crumbly dough comes together. If the dough seems dry, drizzle in a teaspoon or two of water. Press dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight (or up to 5 days).
• Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to 3/8-inch thickness (about an 11-inch round). Place dough into a 9-inch tart pan, folding the extra dough in over the edges to build up the sides. Prick bottom of dough all over with a fork; chill in freezer for at least 30 minutes and up to 48 hours. (Cover lightly with plastic wrap if freezing for more than a couple of hours.)
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the tart crust with foil, and fill with baking weights or dried rice or beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights and continue to bake until shell is light golden, another 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
• Prepare the filling: In a medium saucepan, combine raspberries and sugar over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until berries break down, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat, stir in lemon juice and use a fork or wooden spoon to mash raspberries to a purée.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks and egg. Slowly add 1/4 cup of hot raspberry purée to egg mixture, whisking constantly. Slowly drizzle the egg-raspberry mixture back into the saucepan with remaining purée, whisking constantly to keep eggs from cooking. Turn the heat to medium-low, and add butter and a pinch of salt to the pan. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens enough to coat a spoon, about 7 to 9 minutes.
• Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing hard on the solids, into a bowl. Allow to stand for 5 minutes, then whisk briefly to smooth.
• Pour raspberry filling into the tart shell. Bake until filling is set (it should jiggle only slightly in the center), about 14 to 22 minutes. Remove tart from oven and increase oven temperature to 400 degrees.
• Start preparing the meringue: Using a blender or food processor, blend the freeze-dried raspberries until you get a fine powder speckled with seeds. (The seeds won't break down so don't even try.) Set aside 1 tablespoon of raspberry powder for garnish. Combine cocoa powder with remaining raspberry powder to use for the meringue.
• Place chocolate in heatproof bowl, and melt in microwave in 10-second intervals, stirring after each, until smooth. Set aside. (Or you can melt the chocolate in a pot on the stove over low heat, stirring constantly.)
• Fill a medium pot with 1 inch of water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. In a large metal bowl, whisk together egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar and salt. Set the mixing bowl with the egg white mixture into the pot above the water, and whisk constantly by hand until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm (160 degrees on an instant thermometer) and has thickened and lightened in color, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium-low speed and gradually increase speed to high, until mixture is thick and fluffy, and stiff peaks form, about 5 to 8 minutes. Be careful not to overbeat.
• Sprinkle raspberry-cocoa mixture on top of meringue. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in mixture 2 to 3 times to halfway incorporate, but remains very streaky. (Do not overmix.) Drizzle melted chocolate into meringue and gently fold until just combined and still streaky. Take care not to deflate the meringue very much. (It will deflate somewhat.)
• Spread the meringue over the hot filling, making sure it meets the edges of the crust. Using a knife or spatula, swirl in a design. Bake until lightly browned, about 7 to 10 minutes.
• Allow to cool completely and sprinkle the top with a little of the reserved raspberry powder. (Save the extra to perk up oatmeal, smoothies and peanut butter sandwiches.)