Petite Lemon Meringue Tarts

This recipe is printed from Scissors, Paper, Bacon.

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 30

Course Dessert

Place the flour, icing sugar, salt, lemon zest and butter into a food processor. Blitz until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs.
Add in the egg and egg yolk and mix until the dough comes together.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and kneed the dough briefly to bring it all together.
Form the dough into a ball, wrap in glad wrap and place it into the fridge for about 45 minutes.
Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out between 2 sheets of baking paper, to a thickness of about 2mm. Transfer the dough to a baking tray and refrigerate for another 20 minutes.
Remove the pastry from the fridge again and use a 6cm round cooker cutter to cut out 24 discs from the dough. Line 2 x 12 mini muffin tin trays with the pastry discs. Place the tarts back into the fridge for another 20 minutes.
Blind bake the tarts at 170 °C for 20 minutes. Remove the beans from the tarts and bake for an additional 2 minutes to try out the casings.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Remove the tart casings from the muffin trays and brush generously with melted chocolate on the inside. Place to the side until needed.

Soak the gelatine leaves in water for about 5 minutes. Remove the gelatine leaves from the water and use your hands to squeeze out excess liquid. Set Aside.
Place all the curd ingredients, except the gelatine leaves, into a bowl and whisk to combine.
Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly until the curd reaches a temperature of 82 °C. Take care to avoid burning yourself on steam escaping the sides.
Remove the bowl from the heat and add in the gelatine. Stir until it has dissolved.
Strain the curd into another bowl. Place the bowl of strained curd mixture onto another bowl filled with iced water. Cool the filling to 38 °C.
Use either a spoon or a piping bag to fill each of the tart casings. Transfer the casings to the fridge to finish cooling and set. Allow at least 30 minutes for this step.

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Heat over high heat, brushing down the sides as necessary with a pastry brush dipped in water. Cook until the sugar syrup reaches 116 °C.
Meanwhile,combine the egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Set the mixer to medium speed and mix until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes.
With the mixer running, carefully and slowly drizzle in the hot sugar syrup. Increase the speed to high and whip until the desired stiffness is achieved.
Using a piping bag to pipe the meringue onto the cooled lemon tarts. Finish the lemon meringue tarts by using a blowtorch to cook the outside of the meringue.