A Cure for the Winter Blues…some Lemony Yellows!!
My favourite part of Winter is when it’s over. I wish I was kidding, but I’m not. Maybe not what you’d expect from a girl who grew up in Northern Ontario, Canada. The only thing I like about Winter is that it’s Citrus Season. Love me a lemon. Love me a Lemon Tart with Toasty Marshmallow Meringue even more…
I’m not going to lie to you – these little tarts will involve a little extra effort. They aren’t difficult, but they do have a few components (which can be made over the course of a couple of days if you’re feeling like the recipe is a little daunting to do all in one shot). You may need to save them for a weekend baking project, but I can promise you – they won’t disappoint.
I have never met a Lemon Tart I didn’t like, but these right here have been tested until perfection. The perfect amount of sweet and sour, and all kinds of yumminess.
First, let’s get started with the tart shells. Your food processor is your best friend when it comes to tart and pie dough because it keeps your hot little hands out of the equation – and dough likes coldness. Cold butter, cold liquids, cold hands, cold heart. Just kidding – cold hands, warm heart, always. So, place the flour, sugar and salt in your food processor and pulse to combine. Then scatter the COLD butter pieces over the mixture and pulse 10 to 15 times (I’m talking one-second pulses here, not press-the-pulse-button-and-start-day-dreaming-and-forget-what-you’re-doing-and-ruin-your-tart-dough kind of pulses!). You want the mixture to look like crushed crackers, with some pea-sized pieces of butter.
Combine the egg yolk, cream and vanilla in a small bowl and s-l-o-w-l-y add the mixture to your food processor, pulsing (again, one-second pulses here) after each addition. Once all of the cream mixture has been added, process for 10 to 20 seconds, until dough starts to form into clumps – don’t over do it here, people!
Transfer mixture to countertop and roll up your sleeves. Time for some “fraisage” – a French term for “get your dough-on”…
Fraisage is a French technique used to blend pastry dough after all the ingredients have been combined. It’s the key to flaky, crumbly pastry. You’re welcome! To do this, gather the mixture into a relatively uniform rectangle (no need to go type-A crazy here). Starting at the end furthest away from your body and using the heel of one hand, smear the dough (about 2 to 3 tablespoons-worth at a time) away from you against the surface of the countertop. Continue this smearing action until all the “dough” from the pile has been blended together.
Quickly, and with minimal hot-little-hand action, gather the dough together and form into a 6-inch disk. Immediately roll between two pieces of parchment paper until 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Place dough (still between parchment paper) on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 2 hours or freeze for 1 hour.
Let chilled dough rest on countertop for 10 minutes, or until pliable but still cold.
Cut dough using a circular cutter that is one inch bigger than your tart pan (I use 4-inch tart pans with removable bottoms, so I cut into 5-inch circles – you get the idea.) Carefully re-roll scraps between parchment paper and continue until you have enough dough cut for 6 tart shells.
Working with one piece of dough at a time, lay the dough disk on top of the tart pan and gently lower the dough into the tart pan by lifting up the edge of the dough with one hand while gently pressing the dough into the fluted sides of the pan with your other hand. Work your way around the tart pan until the dough is pressing against the bottom and the sides of the pan. Use your index finger and thumb to make sure that the edge of the dough is an even thickness all the way around the top of the tart pan. The end result should look similar to this:
Once all tart pans have been filled, dock the dough (poke it with a fork a bunch of times), and place tart pans on a cookie sheet. Freeze dough-lined tart pans for thirty minutes while pre-heating oven to 375°F, with rack in middle position.
Line each chilled tart pan with lightly sprayed tin foil (making sure the tin foil covers the edges to prevent burning) and add baking weights (I use – and re-use – dried beans). Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (or until dough looks set and doesn’t puff-up when you peak under the tin foil to check).
Carefully remove tin foil (and baking weights), rotate baking sheet and return to oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until tart shells are lightly golden and firm to the touch. If edges are turning brown too quickly, cover with tin foil. Once cooked, cool completely. These can be kept at room temperature (well-wrapped) for up to a day.
Alright – now that your tart shells are cooling, let’s get our Lemon Curd on! My favourite part…something about lemon curd. So tangy, perfectly sweet and buttery. I could eat this with a spoon…but of course, I would never do that…
In a medium, heavy-bottom sauce pan, whisk whole eggs and yolks to combine. Gradually whisk in sugar, then lemon juice and zest until well combined. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until mixture reaches 175°F. You’ll know its ready when it coats the back of your spatula – check by running your finger across the rubber end of the spatula…if your finger leaves a trace, you’re good to go. Strain mixture into a large bowl, and add salt, butter and cream, stirring until butter has melted.
Gently press a layer of plastic wrap against the surface of the lemon curd (and maybe take a little taste with a spoon just to make sure it’s not poisonous…) Refrigerate until set (about 2 to 4 hours, up to one day).
Again, the beauty of this recipe is that you can make the tart shells and lemon curd separately over the course of two days. Staggered baking at its finest! Before making the Marshmallow Meringue, divide the lemon curd between the tart shells, using an off-set spatula or the back of a spoon to spread it evenly. Refrigerate while making the meringue.
Final step – Marshmallow Meringue! This right here, people, is the marshmallow fluff some people buy from the grocery store in jars. But not the “us” kind of people – we make our own, right? Right. Let’s do this thing…
Combine all meringue ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk by hand to combine. Since we’re friends, I will tell you to resist the urge to use boxed egg whites…although easier than separating eggs, boxed egg whites won’t work…
Set bowl over a Bain Marie (a French term for a hot water bath or a pot filled with 2 inches of water that has been brought to a simmer. Make sure the water isn’t touching the bottom of the stand mixer bowl.) Heat the mixture , whisking constantly, until the mixture is thin and foamy and reaches 170°F (approximately 8 minutes). Keep whisking – consider this a little arm workout before you indulge your sweet tooth!
Once the mixture has reached 170°F, carefully transfer the bowl to the stand mixer and, with the whisk attachment, whisk on high speed until the mixture is thick and glossy, approximately 8 to 10 minutes. It will start to ball up around the whisk, and then you’ll know it’s ready! Again, you may want to sneak a taste just to make sure it’s not going to kill anybody…
After your taste-test, transfer whatever is left into a piping bag fitted with a 1/2 piping tip (or any decorative tip of your choice), and pipe decorative shapes of meringue on the surface of the lemon curd. Using a kitchen blow torch, lightly torch top of meringue until golden brown.
And now for the best part…grab a fork and DIG IN!!!
Store any leftovers in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
LET’S GET BAKING because these Lemon Meringue Tarts are:
LEMONY!
SATISFYING!
NOT TOO SWEET!
SUPER FRAGRANT!
ALL KINDS OF PERFECT!
A Cure for the Winter Blues…some Lemony Yellows!!
Ingredients
- 180 grams (1 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
- 80 grams (2/3 cup) icing/confectioners' sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 127 grams (1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon) very cold unsalted butter, cut in 1-inch pieces
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon heavy/whipping cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from approximately 4 lemons)
- 2 heaping tablespoons lemon zest (from approximately 4 lemons)
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 2 whole eggs, plus 6 yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
- pinch table salt
- 2 tablespoons (32 grams) unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 6 egg whites (approximately 188 g)
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Place flour, sugar and salt in food processor and pulse to combine.
- Scatter butter pieces over top of mixture in food processor, and pulse 10 to 15 times until mixture looks like crushed crackers (with some pea-sized pieces of butter).
- Combine yolk, cream and vanilla in a small bowl. Slowly add to food processor, pulsing after each addition.
- Once all of cream mixture has been added, process for 10 to 20 seconds, until some clumps form.
- Transfer mixture to countertop and roll up your sleeves. Time for some “fraisage” - a French term for “get your dough-on”…(see note*)
- Form into a 6-inch disc and immediately roll between two pieces of parchment paper until it is 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Place dough (still between parchment papter) on a cookie sheet and freeze for 1 hour or refrigerate for 2 hours.
- Let dough rest on countertop for 10 minutes, or until pliable but still cold. Cut using a circular cutter that is one inch bigger than your tart pan.
- Working one at a time, lay dough disc on tart pan and gently lower into tart pan by lifting up the edge of the dough with one hand while gently pressing the dough into the fluted sides of the pan with the other hand. Use your thumb and index finger to ensure even thickness.
- Once all tart pans have been filled, dock dough (poke it with a fork a bunch of times), and place pans on cookie sheet. Freeze dough-lined tart pans for thirty minutes while pre-heating oven to 375°F with rack in middle position.
- Line each tart pan with lightly sprayed tin foil and add baking weights (I use - and re-use - dried beans).
- Bake for 20 minutes (or until dough looks set and doesn’t puff-up when you peak under the tin foil to check).
- Remove baking weights and return to oven for 10 to 12 minutes, or until dough is lightly golden. If edges are turning brown too quickly, cover with tin foil.
- In a medium, heavy-bottom sauce pan, whisk eggs to combine.
- Gradually whisk in sugar, then lemon juice and zest until well combined.
- Heat over low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until mixture reaches 175°F. You’ll know its ready when it coats the back of your spatula - check by running your finger across the rubber end of the spatula…if your finger leaves a trace, you’re good to go.
- Strain into a large bowl, and add salt, butter and cream, stirring until butter has melted.
- Gently press a layer of plastic wrap against the surface of the lemon curd and refrigerate until set (about 2 to 4 hours, up to one day).
- Once you've made your marshmallow meringue, you need to use it right away, so ensure your tarts are filled and chilling while you make your meringue.
- Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk by hand to combine.
- Set bowl over Bain Marie (French term for a hot water bath - a pot filled with 2 inches of water that has been brought to a simmer. Make sure the water isn’t touching the bottom of the stand mixer bowl.)
- Heat mixture over bain marie, whisking constantly until mixture is thin and foamy and reaches 170°F (approximately 10 minutes).
- Carefully transfer bowl to stand mixer and, with whisk attachment, whisk on high until thick and glossy, approximately 6 minutes. You'll know its ready when it starts to ball up around the whisk.
- Transfer to a piping bag and pipe into decorative shapes on surface of lemon curd.
- Using kitchen blow torch, lightly torch top of meringue until golden brown.
Notes
* Note: Fraisage is a French technique used to blend pastry dough after all the ingredients have been combined. It’s the key to flaky, crumbly pastry. You’re welcome!
Form a pile with the dough/mixture from the food processor and, using the heel of one hand, smear the dough (about 2 to 3 tablespoons-worth at a time) away from you against the surface of the countertop. Continue until all the “dough” from the pile has been blended together.