Lemon meringue tartlets

Happy Friday people!  So I have a wonderful little treat for you all to finish the week with… these gorgeous, bite sized Lemon meringue tartlets.

The tangy goodness of the lemon curd encased in gorgeous, buttery shortcrust pasty and topped with sweet Italian meringue is what makes this such a classic combination, not to mention simply divine!

I baked this batch a couple of weeks ago now and I’m so pleased to finally have a moment to share them with you.

You could of course use a good store bought substitute for the lemon curd and pastry, but both are relatively simple to make, can be made ahead of time if you like, and unless you find an amazing store bought product, the finished result will be infinitely better if you make it from scratch. 

Lemon meringue tartlets

This recipe makes 12 tartlets approximately 4.5 cm in diameter and 2 cm deep. Rather than using tartlet tins, I used a mini muffin tray to bake these cases.  Although you only need 1/2 portion of the sweet pastry, I recommend making a full batch as the other half will store well in the fridge or freezer.  Likewise, you’ll have more than enough lemon curd, although any leftovers goes well stirred into yoghurt served with fruit, or spread on toast for breakfast (yum!).

What you’ll need

• 1/2 portion of sweet pastry
• lemon curd
• 120g caster sugar
• 30ml water
• 1 egg white, at room temperature

For the pastry cases

Preheat the oven to 150°C and grease the muffin tray.

On a floured surface, roll out the sweet pastry until it is about 2-3mm thick.

Cut out 12 circles using a pastry cutter or rim of a glass, approximately 9.5 cm in diameter. Transfer each circle of pastry to the muffin tray and gently press into the side of each individual tin then trim the edges with a sharp knife.

Line each pastry case with a square of scrunched up baking paper and fill with baking beans (or if you don’t have any, lentils or rice should work).

Blind bake the pastry for 25 minutes then remove the paper and beans and return the pastry cases to oven for a further 5-10 minutes (or until golden).

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in pastry tins for 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the pastry cases have cooled, fill each case with lemon curd.

Italian meringue

Place the sugar into a saucepan, add the water and stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves.  Increase the heat and bring the syrup to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.  Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, whisk the egg white until soft peaks form.  Continue to whisk while slowly pouring the hot syrup into the meringue and then whisk for 5 minutes or until thick and glossy.

Spoon the meringue into a piping bag with a star nozzle, then pipe the meringue onto each individual tartlet.  Toast the meringue using either a kitchen blowtorch or under the grill, taking care not to burn.