Yay, lemon meringue tarts! Yay grain free and dairy free crust! Yay Swiss Meringue! That’s a lot of yays and well deserving! The smooth and tart lemon curd is the luscious filling for the almond flour shortbread crust and all topped off with the perfectly toasted Swiss meringue. A summertime dessert for all the yays!
Tarts are an easy elegant dessert that will impress your guests. They also should be made the day before, so it makes your day of the party that much easier! I actually made these for a friend’s birthday treat. She has been out of town helping her mom and is just the sweetest person. We didn’t get to celebrate her birthday because she has been away. Well, she came into town last minute and I was hosting her for dinner! So, I wanted to make sure she got her celebration on! She loves lemon and these babies are lemony! So lemon meringue tarts it was
The curd is just the right amount of the tart and sweet and has a silky mouth feel that will have you going back for more. The crust has a nice note of nuttiness from the almond flour and is the right balance to the filling. Of course, it wouldn’t be lemon meringue without the meringue. I like using Swiss meringue and the light fluffy marshmallowy topping ties everything together in one perfect bite! The mini tarts are great for individual servings or sharing…but hey, no one will blame you if you don’t want to share!
Pre-meringue game, so lemony, so yellow! 🙂
Perfectly formed crust with the right amount of texture. Delish!
Have fun with your meringue top. Try out different tips!
This one was perfect for the birthday girl! All that meringue piled high was just begging for a candle and to be eaten!
So, whether you are hosting one person or 20, these should definitely make the menu! Heck, even if you are staying in and hosting yourself, you should definitely treat yourself to some Lemon Meringue Tarts. It’s summer, it’s the weekend, it’s hot out, ergo, you deserve this! Now go get your tart on the lemony way!
Happy Weekending and Lemon Tarting!
Diane
- Supplies:
- Three 4.5 inch mini tart pans
- Kitchen scale
- Kitchen torch
- For the Crust:
- 1¼ cup of fine almond flour
- ¼ cup confectioners sugar
- ¼ cup modified tapioca starch
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1 stick vegan butter I use Earth Balance soy free - room temp
- For the Lemon Curd:
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 1 tbsp. lemon zest
- 4.5oz grass fed butter or vegan butter for dairy free option - room temp
- 6.5oz granulated sugar
- For the Swiss Meringue:
- 5 egg whites
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ tsp. of salt
- For the Crust:
- Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside.
- In the bowl of stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Add the dry ingredient and mix until fully combined. Dough will be wet, no need to chill or roll. Wet your hands or spray lightly with cooking spray. Press some of the dough evenly across the bottom and up the sides of each of the tart pans. Place tarts on a baking sheet and pop in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- Line each of the tarts with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dry beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and weights (I press down the dough carefully with a measuring cup or glass) put back in the oven and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until light golden brown. Allow to cool completely on wire rack. Can be made a day ahead and wrapped in plastic wrap and stored in air-tight container at room temp.
- For the Lemon Curd:
- Prepare a ice bath for when the curd is done cooking. Leave next to the stove.
- Combine the lemon juice, 3oz of sugar and the zest in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil.
- While the juice is coming to a boil, In a medium heat proof bowl, combine the eggs and the remaining sugar, mix well to combine.
- When the juice has reached a boil, pour a little of the hot juice (about a quarter of it) into the egg mixture while whisking, add a little more and continue to mix to temper the eggs. Add the rest of the juice to the egg mixture and continue to whisk. Pour the mixture back into the sauce pan and bring back up to boil while vigorously whisking constantly. Continue to whisk for another minute after the mixture has boiled.
- Pour the curd through a fine mesh strainer back into the bowl and place in the ice bath to stop the cooking. Add the butter in three additions mixing well with a spatula until completely smooth.
- Pour the curd evenly into the cooled tart shells. Place them back on the baking sheet and pop them in the fridge to set, at least two hours. Can be made night before and left in the fridge covered (not touching the curd) overnight.
- For the Swiss Meringue:
- Separate whites from yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Pour sugar and salt in bowl with the egg whites.
- Place bowl over, not touching, a pot with simmering water.
- Whisk constantly until sugar has completely dissolved around 160 degrees. If you don’t have a candy thermometer, you can tell it’s done when you rub a little of the mixture between your fingers and it is completely smooth with no graininess. Should take about 10 minutes.
- Then return bowl to stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
- Begin beating the eggs and sugar until whites are glossy and stiff peaks have formed.
- The bowl should be cool to the touch, this will take around 10 minutes.
- Add meringue to large piping bag fitted with tip of choice. I used a large closed star, large petal tip and large sphere ball Russian tip. Pipe meringue over the curd then lightly torch.
- Can be stored covered in the fridge for up to a day.
- Enjoy!
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