4. Mini Lemon Tarts
I think it is fair to say that summer is well and truly here.
The heat has been scorching, there's been barely a cloud in the sky, and the rain this weekend was a welcome change (not something we get to say often in England). But whilst I was born in the summer, I was not made for this heat. I have been sweltering.
I am very, very grateful that my office is air conditioned and my bedroom does not get direct sun and so stays a temperature I can actually sleep in. The tube to and from work has been disgusting and my lunch breaks have been spent searching for the shadiest patch in the park to eat my lunch in.
But, we had a brief reprieve from the heat this weekend, and so I decided to try a new summery recipe out while I could bare to use the hob.
What's more summery than a lemon tart?
These little babies also got the office treatment. I sent out the email saying they were in the kitchen and they were gone within the hour. I couldn't believe they'd gone so fast. I wanted one with my lunch...
I don't have the most experience with pastry, and I think I could've rolled mine a little thinner, but it went pretty well! Crumbly but could hold its own.
Makes 18-24 mini tarts depending on size.
Ingredients
Pastry
3 cups (360g) plain flour
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup (100g) golden caster sugar
225g butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
Lemon Curd
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup (100g) golden caster sugar
2 lemons, zest and juice
Pinch salt
85g butter
Method
Beat the pastry sugar and butter together until well combined and creamy. Add the vanilla extract and eggs. Beat until smooth.
Fold in the flour and salt until the dough forms. (Mine was a little short, but I added a tiny splash of milk to make it hold. I think my butter was just a little too cold). Don't overwork the dough!
Chill your dough for 15-20 mins in the fridge to make it easier to work with.
Grease your mini muffin tray/tart cases and preheat the oven to 175C.
Roll your pastry to about 1/6-1/8" thick and use a round cookie cutter to cut out your tart cases. I used one about 3" in diameter, but you should adapt to the size of your tray/cases.
Line your tray/cases with your freshly cut circles, making sure you push them down to the bottom so that they have a flat bottom when baked.
Bake your cases for 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown and allow to cool.
To make the lemon curd, beat the eggs, egg yolks, sugar and lemon zest together in a pyrex/glass mixing bowl until it is smooth and pales in colour a bit. Then add the lemon juice and salt in, mixing well.
Half fill a pan with water and bring it to a simmer before putting your curd on top to bain marie. Make sure the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl.
Keep it simmering and stir your curd regularly until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 15 minutes for me). If you don't stir it regularly enough your egg can coagulate. If it does this a little bit, don't worry. Pass your curd through a sieve after the next step.
Take your curd off the heat and add in your butter a bit at a time, stirring until it has melted in and your curd is glossy.
Pour your curd into a bowl and cover with clingfilm, making sure the clingfilm is on the surface of the curd to stop it forming a skin.
Chill your curd for 20 minutes or so.
Fill a piping bag with your curd and fill your tart cases to the brim with curd!
Enjoy! Keep refrigerated if they don't all go in one sitting.
