Miniature Lemon Meringue Tarts

 This is a really tasty treat to make.  It features a shortbread crust, fresh lemon curd, and meringue.  Delish!  The crust is definitely easier than pie pastry, so don't let the tart scare you :)  This is not a complicated recipe, but it does take some time. Both the crust and the curd needs one hour to chill in the fridge. Recipe credit goes to Canadian Living.

My niece loves lemon meringue, so this was the perfect treat to make for her birthday :)  

 Lemon curd...there is no comparison to homemade lemon curd.  It is delicious on scones with Devonshire cream, too :)

Ingredients: 

Crust: 2/3 cups unsalted butter, softened, 1/2 cup icing sugar, 1/2 tsp. vanilla, 1 pinch salt, and 1 1/3 cups flour

Lemon filling:  2 eggs, 2 egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp. lemon zest, and 5 Tb. lemon juice (I used one lemon for the zest, and two lemons for the juice).

Meringue:  1/3 cup pasteurized egg whites, 1/2 cup sugar (You can find pasteurized egg whites in the cartons by the eggs.  This makes the meringue a bit safer as you can be less worried about raw egg).

 In large bowl, beat butter with sugar until smooth and fluffy; beat in vanilla and salt. Stir in flour. Roll into 24 balls. This dough was very forgiving.  I was able to add a bit more to each ball when I had extra dough left over; press onto bottoms and up sides of mini muffin cups. Prick all over with fork; refrigerate for 1 hour.

 

In large heatproof bowl, whisk together eggs, egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. Set over saucepan of simmering water; cook, stirring constantly, until space remains after spoon is drawn through, 6 to 8 minutes. Now if you don't have this (I didn't), you can still make this in a saucepan, but you want to stay with it until it is done, stirring constantly.  Strain through fine sieve into bowl. This part is important, because there will likely be some cooked egg, along with the lemon rind.  Place plastic wrap directly on surface; refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour.

Bake in 375ºF (190ºC) oven until edges are golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack. Fill each shell with rounded 1 tsp of the filling.

For the meringue:  In bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form; gradually beat in sugar until stiff glossy peaks form, about 8 minutes.

Using pastry bag fitted with plain tip, pipe meringue in concentric circles on each tart, ensuring meringue touches pastry and covers filling. Broil until meringue is golden, 30 to 60 seconds. To remove from pan, loosen edges with tip of knife. 

 This is what the meringues looked like after 60 seconds.

 I have a blow torch, so tried it out on these.  They get brown very quickly!

 These would be perfect for having at an Afternoon Tea (one day!).

 Store in the refrigerator

Enjoy!