I love lemon meringue pie and these tarts are a great little twist – they are bite-sized, quick to make and would be lovely for afternoon tea. I made them when we had friends dropping by a few weekends ago. I used shop-bought lemon curd though you can make your own; for me though the great thing about these are that they are so quick to make.
To make about 8, you need:
225g plain flour plus extra for flouring the work surface
110g butter
80g caster sugar
1 egg
8-16 tbsp lemon curd (about half a large jar)
4 egg whites (I used Two Chicks egg white that comes in a carton so I didn’t have yolks to use up)
100g caster sugar
Preheat the oven to 180C.
In a bowl, cream together the flour and butter then work in the caster sugar and egg until you have a dough. Knead on a lightly floured work surface and roll out. Cut out small rounds with a circular cutter, and place in a greased muffin tin. This is the base of the tart; cut a strip of dough and place this around the side of the muffin hole, and press together with the base piece so they are joined. Alternatively if you have a big enough cutter, cut a circle that is large enough to place into the muffin tin so that as well as covering the bottom, it comes up the sides.
Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of your pastry. When cool, place 1-2 tbsp lemon curd inside each pastry case.
Beat the egg whites until stiff and gradually add the sugar; continue beating until thick and glossy. Spoon the meringue onto the top of each tart.
You can then either brown these under the grill or use a cook’s blowtorch as I did, to caramelize the top. Allow to cool before eating.
I'm sending these to the Pastry Challenge, hosted by Jen's Food; this month she is looking for pastry-based recipes that are quick to make.
