French Lemon Tartlets
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Yields: 12 tartlets or 1 large tart
Author: Ireland Lindsay
Ingredients:
For the pâte sucrée crust:
1/4 cups (160g) powdered sugar
1 cup (226g) cold unsalted butter, cubed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 Egg Yolks
1/2 (450g) cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
For the curd:
6 egg yolks
1 1/4 cup (240g) granulated sugar
2 tablespoon lemon zest
3/4 cup (200ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice, 3 lemons for both zest and juice
2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 cup (60g) double cream
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons (120g) unsalted butter, cut into small portions
For the swiss meringue topping:
1 cup egg whites (about 8 egg whites)
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
FOR THE PATE SUCREE CRUST:
INTO the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment add the icing sugar, butter, vanilla. Beat the mixture on a medium speed for a few minutes until it forms a paste, and the butter is mostly all incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
ONCE the mixture has formed a paste slowly add in the flour mixture on low speed until it is just combined. The mixture may look crumbly, so don't worry as it will come together when rolled and the flour has time to absorb.
DIVIDE evenly into 2 separate portions (only 1 if making a large tart), wrap, and chill for 30 minutes. During this time feel free to make the lemon curd!
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ONCE your dough is chilled, preheat the oven to 325°F and lightly flour a work surface, and roll till 1/4 inch thick.
For the tartlets, cut out a large circle 2 inches bigger than your tart rings, carefully fit and mold your circle into the rings, once fitted cut off the excess.
For the large tart, once rolled 1/4-inch-thick, roll onto the rolling pin to transfer to the tart pan. Mold and fit to the tart pan, then cut off any excess pastry.
BAKE for 15 minutes or until lightly golden.
FOR THE LEMON CURD:
START by creating a double boiler by adding 2 inches of water to a heavy-bottomed pan.
COMBINE all the ingredients except the butter into a large bowl- the egg yolks, caster sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, cornstarch, and double cream. Set the bowl over the pan of simmering water, making sure the pan does not touch the water.
WHISK constantly until the mixture thickens or the back of a spoon is coated and leave a clear pass if you run your finger through it. This can take between 10-20 minutes like I said LABOR OF LOVE OK.
ONCE thickened and/or coats the spoon, strain the mixture through a sieve. Add the butter, a few cubes at a time, whisking until fully melted and combined. Feel free to whisk for an extra minute or 2 to result in an ultra-light curd. Transfer to a piping bag and let rest in the refrigerator till ready to pipe.
FOR THE SWISS MERINGUE TOPPING:
START by creating a double boiler by adding 2 inches of water to a heavy-bottomed pan.
WHISK the eggs and sugar together into a large bowl and set over simmering water, again making sure the pan does not touch the water. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the sugar is dissolved and you don’t feel any granules when you pinch the mixture.
POUR the egg/sugar mixture to a pristine* clean bowl of a stand mixer and whip on medium speed for 10 minutes or until you’ve reached stiff peaks. Transfer to a piping bag.
*It is vital that all equipment is very clean, any traces of fat (whipping cream, egg yolk, butter, etc.) and the mixture won’t whip :(
FOR ASSEMBLY:
TO assemble your tarts, take the cooled pastry shells/tart and pipe even amounts of lemon curd into the center. Chill for 1 hour, or best overnight (but if you can’t wait, I feel u)
FINISH by piping the swiss meringue. Cut 1 inch from the tip of the bag then center yourself over the tartlet and slowly apply pressure, hammer the piping bag up and down (still while applying even pressure) as you come up.
TORCH the meringue (or don’t!) to finish. Then, give yourself a pat because dude- you just made a French lemon tart from scratch, you little baker you!
STORE in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. These are eaten the best day of, if the swiss meringue is piped then put back in the fridge it tends to take on a, well…we’ll say…INTERESTING texture ;)
Recipe by @IreBakes
