Recipe: Mini Lemon Meringue Tarts

A bit of fuss, these mini tarts are well worth it for their “wow” factor!

Traditional All-Butter Pie Dough

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt 
14 tablespoons unsalted cold butter, cut into tablespoon size pieces
½ cup ice water + 1-2 tablespoons more as needed 
Additional flour for rolling out dough 

Tools & Method

Mini Tart Pan 
Paring Knife 
Rolling Pin 

1. Put all the ingredients but the ice water into a food processor. 
2. Pulse ingredients together until butter is small pebble size. 
3. Add butter and flour mixture to a bowl, sprinkle ice water over the mixture and stir lightly with a fork. 
4. Squeeze the dough together to see if it holds, mix more in more as needed. 
5. Divide the dough in half to make two discs, approximately 5″ across. 
6. Roll out pie dough to about 1/8″ thick, place your mini tart pans upside down on top of the dough. 
7. Gently press down lightly to mark the outline of the plate. Using a pairing knife, trace around the edge of the plate, cutting a circle in the dough. 
8. Press dough into mini tart pans and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. 
9. Fill the tarts with baking weights and bake in a 375°F preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes. 
10. Let cool completely.

Lemon Filling

3 egg yolks, fork beaten
1 cup granulated sugar 
1/3 cup cornstarch 
Pinch of salt 
1 ¼ warm water 
1 tablespoon butter 
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 
Zest of 1 large lemon 

Meringue Topping

5 egg whites
A pinch of salt
1/3 cup sugar 
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

1. In a bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer or stand mixer.
2. Add the pinch of salt and the sugar while you mix! Add the cream of tartar and mix a bit more. Lift the beaters out occasionally – you’re done when you can see soft peaks forming. 

Method

Lemon filling:

1. In small bowl, fork beat the egg yolks and set them aside. 
2. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt. 
3. Add the water and, while constantly stirring with a whisk, bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook for 2 -3 minutes while continuing to whisk. 
4. Take ¼ cup of the hot mixture and whisk it in to the egg yolks. Return this to the saucepan, and while stirring, cook for 2 more minutes until the mixture is thick. 
5. Stir in the butter, lemon juice, and zest and cook for another minute. 
6. Immediately pour the mixture into the pre-baked piecrust and set aside. Allow to cool and set for 3-4 hours. 

Meringue:

1. Make meringue and preheat oven to 375F. 
2. Put the meringue on the set lemon filling, spreading the meringue so it reaches the edges. Pull up some soft peaks with the handle of a spoon!
3. Place mini tarts in the preheated oven for 6 minutes or until the peaks turn light brown. 
4. Remove the tarts and let cool completely before serving!