Monday, January 28, 2008

Lemon Merigue Tartlets


This month was my third Daring Bakers Challenge, Lemon Meringue Pie. I was psyched about this recipe, as I loves me some lemon curd. I've actually done lemon meringue tartlets in the past, but it's probably been at least 10 years, and using a completely different recipe.

I thought this recipe was pretty straightforward, and none of the components was too difficult. I make a lot of pies, so the crust was standard - though this time I used my brand-new food processor. I have always made my crust by hand; this method was certainly faster
, and yielded good results. But I found that the dough was moister than normal, as it seemed to take more water before the dough "balled up." I'll have to play with this technique some more before I decide which method I like better.

The lemon curd recipe was different from the one I have used in the past, and after reading some comments about trouble people were having with it, I was a little worried. But it went off without a hitch, and the resulting curd was very nice - and very lemony! Just the way I like it.

I'm not a huge fan of traditional meringue; I like mine drier which calls for a much lower baking temp and longer baking time. And since I was afraid of the weeping problems some folks had, I decided to "cheat" a bit - I piped my meringue on parchment, baked them off, and then topped the filled tarts without baking them again. This worked like a charm, and I got to have my crunchier meringue.

Lastly, even though I have tartlette tins, I am currently into the more rustic look of using cupcake pans for the crust. I first did this in a pinch when I could find my fancy tins, but I really like the look and size of tarts made this way.

All in all, a great challenge!




The Recipe
(recipe from "Wanda's Pie in the Sky" by Wanda Beaver)
Lemon Meringue Pie

Makes one 10-inch (25 cm) pie

For the Crust:

¾ cup (180 mL) cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces

2 cups (475 mL) all-purpose flour

¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar

¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt

cup (80 mL) ice water

For the Filling:

2 cups (475 mL) water

1 cup (240 mL) granulated sugar

½ cup (120 mL) cornstarch

5 egg yolks, beaten

¼ cup (60 mL) butter

¾ cup (180 mL) fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp (15 mL) lemon zest

1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla extract

For the Meringue:

5 egg whites, room temperature

½ tsp (2.5 mL) cream of tartar

¼ tsp (1.2 mL) salt

½ tsp (2.5 mL) vanilla extract

¾ cup (180 mL) granulated sugar

For the Crust: Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.

Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.


For the Filling: Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated.

Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.


For the Meringue: Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack. Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust.

Daring Bakers Extra Challenge
Free-Style Lemon Tartlets


Prepare the recipe as above but complete the following steps:

To roll out tartlet dough, slice the dough into 6 pieces. On lightly floured surface, roll each circle of dough into a 5 inch disk. Stack the disks, separated by pieces of plastic wrap, on a plate, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To bake the dough, position rack in oven to the centre of oven and preheat to 350ºF (180ºC). Place the disks of dough, evenly spaced, on a baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Cool completely.

To finish tartlets, first place oven rack in the upper third of the oven and increase heat to 425ºF.

Divide the lemon filling equally among the disks, mounding it in the centre and leaving a 1-inch border all the way around.

Spoon the meringue decoratively over each tartlet, right to the edges, in dramatic swirling peaks. Return tartlets to oven and bake for about 5 minutes, until the meringue is golden brown.

27 comments:

Jerry said...

Very lovely tartlets. For a second I thought they were cupcakes!

Faery said...

Very very very beautiful

Dagmar said...

Great idea with baking the meringue separetaly! They look very cute!

Karen said...

Very clever to bake the meringues and then top the pie. Looking very good.

Katy said...

how cute! they really do look like little cupcakes! such a good idea to bake the meringue on parchment -- that is so smart!

Nikki57 said...

Very cute cup-pies :)

Helene said...

Just too cute! Well done on the challenge!

Suzana Parreira said...

Those are so cute - I love the meringue soft peaks!

breadchick said...

What lovely tarts you have there and the meringue is gorgeous.

Laura Rebecca said...

I like the crunchy meringue idea. Plus your lovely little LMPs look like cupcakes -- so pretty and fun!

Beth G. @SweetLifeKitchen said...

Your tartlets look fabulous! Beautiful job!

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

I have been seeing quite a few LMPs today. The first thing I thought when I saw yours was "wow". They really look like cup cakes.
I also like the sandy background on your blog.:)

... said...

I'm seriously going to have to do this over again. Looking at your tarlets, makes me finally want to try and make some.

Tanya said...

Haha! I did the same thing... though I love how yours look like real cupcakes the way you piped them!

Deborah said...

They are perfect! I love that they look like cupcakes!

Kim U said...

I really like the idea of using the cupcake tins - that gave the tartlets a really interesting shape.

Angel said...

I adore your tartlets they are so cute. Now i want to try making some in my cupcake pan. I wasn't going to try them since i don't have a tart pan.

KayKat said...

I'm a fan of the rustic look too. And I'm definitely going for tartlets next time, not a giant pie!

Looks delicious.

Unknown said...

These look incredible! You're an arteest!

The Fast Lane said...

What a great idea to bake the meringue separately!

Your tarlets look wonderful. Congrats!

Jane of VeganBits.com

Andrea said...

Wonderful job! I think baking the meringue separately was a great solution!

Miss Ifi said...

Love the little tartlets they look amazing!!! Congratulations on a challenge well done!

Dolores said...

I love the 'cupcake' style tarts, and I think you solution to crispy meringue and weepy curd is genius. Well done!

Lunch Buckets said...

Beautiful! I knew someone who baked the meringue seperately once - I need to remember to do that - love love love a crispy meringue.

Sheltie Girl said...

You did a lovely job on your lemon meringue pie!

Natalie @ Gluten A Go Go

Unknown said...

Great tarts! I used my new food processor as well and thought I was going to have to add more water, but I just had to process it a little longer/continuously. LOVE it!

Jaime said...

great job!

i just joined the DB this month, just checking out everyone else’s blogs, wanted to say hello :)