Sweet Bakery Lemon Meringue Tarts Recipes

LEMON MERINGUE TARTS

Steps:

• Make the crust: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter and confectioners' sugar at medium speed to combine. Scrape down the bowl, add the egg yolk, and beat until well blended. Scrape down the bowl and add half of the flour; beat on low speed until crumbly. Stop the machine, add the remaining flour and the cream, and beat on low speed just until a dough forms.
• Turn out the dough and shape it into a ball, then flatten the ball slightly into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours or up to 1 day.
• Dust a work surface with flour. Cut the chilled dough into 1-inch pieces; using the heel of your hand, knead the pieces back together into a smooth disk. Keeping the surface well floured, shape the disk into a 12-inch-long log. Cut into 6 equal pieces. Refrigerate 10 minutes.
• Remove one of the dough pieces and transfer back to the well-floured work surface. Using your fist, squish the dough into a disk, then roll using a rolling pin to form a very thin (1⁄8-inch) round. Center the round over a 4 3⁄4-inch fluted tart pan, preferably with a removable bottom, or a tart ring. Run your fingers around the inside of the pan or ring several times, easing the dough into the edges to avoid tearing. Be sure the dough fits against all the sides and nooks of the pan. Trim excess dough from the top edges. Dock the bottom of the dough sparingly with the tines of a fork. Transfer to a baking sheet and freeze for at least 10 minutes or until firm. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough, refrigerating the scraps as you work in case they are needed to patch any holes.
• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375°. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake until the pastry is light golden brown and the interior is dry, 12-15 minutes. If the bottoms of the shells puff up as they bake, tap them down lightly with your fingers or the back of a fork as often as needed. Remove and let cool in the tart pans completely.
• Using a large spoon, fill the tart shells with the lemon curd. Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes.
• Make the meringue: In a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer, whisk the egg whites on medium speed for 1 minute. Add the cream of tartar, increase the speed to medium-high, and mix for 1 minute. With the motor running, gradually add the sugar in small (1-2 teaspoon) increments. Once all the sugar has been added, continue beating the egg whites until stiff, glossy peaks have formed.
• Carefully unmold the tarts. Place a generous dollop of meringue in the center of each. Caramelize the meringue with a kitchen torch if desired. Serve immediately, or refrigerate up to 1 hour. Let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes 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:

• 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 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.

SWEET BAKERY LEMON MERINGUE TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F Butter 8 tartlet pans and set aside. Put the sugar, salt, flour, almonds, and almond extract in the bowl of a food processor and process to mix. With the machine running, add the butter in the feed tube about 2 tbsp at a time. Process until dough forms a ball.
• Press dough into tartlet pans and bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
• To prepare the curd, put the lime juice, zest, sugar, and egg yolks in a metal bowl, whisk until the curd thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
• Pour into prepared tartlet shells.
• To prepare the meringue, put the egg whites and the cream of tartar in the bowl of a heavy duty mixer and mix on high speed until the egg whites are very fluffy.
• With machine running add the sugar a little at a time. Continue to whip on a high speed until whites are shiny and stiff peaks form.
• Place meringue in a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe over the curd.
• To brown the outside if the tartlets, place the tartlets on a broiler pan and brown.