Mini Lemon Meringue Tarts

Recently, I was lucky enough to fly over the ditch to Melbourne for a short break away. While I was there, I sampled Lemon Meringue Pie from the famous Hopetoun Tea Rooms and thought I’d died and gone to heaven!

Instead of the standard starchy, firm set lemon custard they used a seductively soft and tangy lemon curd and on top a heady cloud of marshmallow dreaminess. I couldn’t wait to get home and give it a try. So, here’s my humble attempt; I can’t say I reached the same level of perfection, but it was still divinely delicious.

Thanks to Alton Brown and Food Network for the lemon curd recipe and Grace’s Sweet Life for the meringue recipe. I chose to make an Italian meringue, as it cooks the egg whites and is considered the most stable of the French, Swiss and Italian methods.

MINI LEMON MERINGUE TARTS

Lemon lovers, this dessert is for you! Mini Lemon Meringue Tarts are a classic for a reason – the bright, tangy lemon curd, the sweet and fluffy meringue… it's the perfect combination! You won't believe how easy they are to make, and they look absolutely gorgeous.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Resting Time 1 day d

Total Time 1 day d 30 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Servings 6 Tarts

Calories 140 kcal

Ingredients

  

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• ▢ Pastry: Normally I like making all the components of a recipe. However being time challenged on this occasion, I used ready rolled sweet short-crust pastry – enough to fill six shallow 12cm tartlet pans. If you’d prefer to make your own, either use your own favourite recipe or perhaps try the pastry used by Grace in the link I’ve included above.
• ▢ Lemon Curd: See recipe https://theskillfulcook.com/lemon-curd/

Italian Meringue:

• ▢ 1 cup caster sugar
• ▢ 1/3 cup water
• ▢ 4 large egg whites (room temperature)
• ▢ ¼ tsp cream of tartar
• ▢ ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

 

• Place the sugar in a small saucepan. Add the water and set saucepan over low heat. Swirl the saucepan over the burner to dissolve the sugar completely – do not stir. Increase the heat to medium-high so that the sugar syrup starts to cook quickly. Attach candy thermometer to pan and cook the sugar syrup to a soft-ball stage,113° C to 116°C (235°F to 240°F). If you don’t have a candy thermometer, test the syrup by dropping a little syrup into a bowl of cold water – a firm ball should form. To prevent sugar crystals from forming, use a pastry brush dipped in water to wash down the sides of the pan as it cooks.
• When the temperature of the sugar syrup reaches 100°C (212°F), begin beating your egg whites on low speed in your electric stand mixer. When the egg whites are foamy, add the cream of tartar. Increase the speed to medium and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Decrease the speed to low-medium and with mixer running gradually, in a steady, thin stream, add the sugar mixture along the side of the bowl (making sure the hot syrup doesn’t touch the whip attachment). Add the vanilla and increase speed to high and whisk until thick and glossy.
• Assembly: To fill the pastry shells, spoon the curd into the pastry shells. At room temperature, the curd willlikely be of a consistency that it levels out slowly, so don’t over-fill the tart. To top the tarts, dollop themeringue onto the lemon curd and use the back of a spoon to create peaks. If you prefer, you can pipe themeringue on instead.
• As Italian meringue is cooked already, you don’t need to further cook the meringue in the oven. You could leave the meringue as is – like pure white clouds – or you could brown the tips for a bit of drama! If you have a Crème Brûlée torch, simply run it across the tips and sides of meringue peaks; be careful, the mixture burns easily. If you don’t have a torch, just place the tarts on a baking sheet and place in a preheated oven set on broiler /grill setting. Watch the tarts carefully as the meringue can brown very quickly. You may need to turn the baking sheet a few times to ensure even browning.

Notes

Note: This is best to serve this on the same day – this is due to the meringue eventually breaking down. However, I refrigerated an extra portion overnight and had it the next morning and it was absolutely perfect with no change to the meringue at all – go Italian meringue!

Nutrition

Calories: 140kcalCarbohydrates: 33gProtein: 2gFat: 0.1gSodium: 34mgPotassium: 54mgSugar: 33gCalcium: 2mgIron: 0.04mg

Keyword Lemon Meringue Tarts, tarts

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