Tartbreaker

Not long ago a boy took me out for a picnic by the river. I'm pretty sure I came up with the idea (there's probably never a time I don't want to picnic), but he totally initiated it. He even brought hot water in a flask so we could have tea ! And PoP went my tart.

So anyway, I decided to make mini lemon meringue tarts for him because, you know, I fucking love them.

 Little cups of happiness

Since I made them fresh in the morning before he picked me up, I was too pressed for time to make my own pastry. Instead I bought frozen shortcrust pastry sheets from the supermarket... and they still worked out great. All is good in the world.

Little Lemon Tartbreakers
(adapted from http://www.weekendnotes.com/mini-lemon-meringue-pies/)
Makes six

Lemon Curd
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 teaspoons lemon rind
1 teaspoon lemon rind
5 tablespoons lemon juice
50g butter, chopped

Meringue
3 egg whites
95g caster sugar

Method
People usually make the pastry first because it needs time to sit in the fridge and to be rolled out. I left this last because I was using frozen sheets and figured it wouldn't take long, whilst the lemon curd required a bit more work.

I started off ruining my lemon curd by making scrambled eggs: I mixed all my ingredients over heat. Please don't do it. Mix the egg, egg yolk, sugar, lemon rind and lemon juice together in a stovepot before you turn on the heat (I know, you're all smarter than this... but that was a detail I clearly missed). Once it's throughly mixed through, put your stovepot over medium heat and add the butter. Make sure you're constantly whisking to remove any lumps, to stop the egg from cooking and to make sure that the butter is completely mixed through. The website suggested 8 minutes, but it took me much longer than that; the curd needs to be thickened that it coats the back of a spoon. Be patient my dears, and just whisk away.

Once this is done, remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. I then strained the curd through a sieve to remove any lumps and placed the result in a bowl. Put some Glad wrap (Saran wrap/plastic wrap ?) over it and place it in the fridge until chilled.

Now, onto the pastry. I simply traced out circles from a drinking glass on shortcrust pastry sheets and popped them into a cupcake tin. Just follow the Shape of Your Tart. I only needed 1 1/2 sheets to make 6. Note: I found a glass that had a circumference that was about half a centimetre wider than the cupcake tins, placed them flat over the holes, and let gravity push them into the tin. This allowed the pastry to stretch into the mould, rather than forcing it. I tried forcing it and my pastry just buckled and make creases everywhere. Just, no.

Bake according to instructions on the package. 

Once the curd is completely cool (note: completely!), pour them into the cases. If it's still warm it will make the pastry soggy and will start leaking a syrupy liquid. Don't Go Breaking Your Tart at this stage. You're close to the end !

Lemon baths

For the meringue, whisk the egg whites on high until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, whisking constantly until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Place them into icing bags and pipe away! I placed these bad boys in the oven (200C) for about 7.6 minutes and then used a blow torch to brown the meringue (7.6 minutes ? I don't know, I just Listened to My Tart). If you don't have a blow torch I suggest you leave the tarts in the oven for 10 minutes or so. We don't want no salmonella!

Bam! And it's done.

Once done, dust some icing sugar and sprinkle fine lemon rinds over your beehives.

And you know what? He ate three in front of me. Three.*^

Have a great weekend,
N. 


*I may have pushed him.
^The tarts might not even have been that nice but he was probably being nice. Who knows ? But go on, try the recipe and win his tart (: (Yes, that almost sounds dirty.)