Mini Lemon Tarts

I made these cute little tarts for a fashion show at K-State benefitting the Make a Wish Foundation. I love the way they turned out, mini desserts are always a favorite of mine. I used a mini tart pan that I have from Williams Sonoma, but I actually am not a huge fan of it because it does not easily leave room for filling. I would recommend using this tart pan or a mini muffin tin. You could definitely make these using any type of citrus that you’d like – I obviously chose lemon. I bought a Meyer lemon tree about a year ago, and it has made me appreciate lemons in a whole new way. Nothing helps you appreciate food quite like growing it yourself!

Makes 30 (2″) mini tarts
Recipe adapted from: Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

Pre-packaged pie crust (enough for two pies)
8 egg yolks
2 tablespoons lemon zest
1 cup lemon juice (approximately 8 lemons)
2 cans (14 oz. each) sweetened condensed milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 egg whites
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Using a round cookie cutter slightly bigger than the diameter of your tarts, cut out 30 circles. Press the crust into the mold and poke the dough a few times with a fork to keep it from puffing up too much.
Bake the tart shells for 10 minutes, or until very slightly golden.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, sweetened condensed milk, and salt.
Once the tart shells are out of the oven and have cooled slightly, place them on a baking sheet. Fill them with 1 tablespoon of the lemon mixture, or until the tart shell is just barely full.
Bake for approximately 6-9 minutes, or until the filling in the center of the tarts is no longer jiggly.
Once the tarts have cooled, cover and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours, or preferably overnight.
In a very clean bowl, whip the egg whites (using a whisk or an electric mixer with the whisk attachment) until they have reached the soft-peak stage. Slowly add in the powdered sugar 1 tablespoon at a time, and continue to whisk until they just reach the firm-peak stage.
Using a piping bag (or Ziploc® bag with a hole cut in the corner), pipe the meringue on top of the tarts.
Place under the broiler until the meringue is golden brown, about 30 seconds.
Serve immediately and enjoy!

PS – if you have any filling leftover, pour it into a baking dish and bake it! You can spread it on cakes or scones, stir it into ice-cream, or just eat with a spoon! Yum!

Tags: lemon, meringue, mini, tarts

About the Author

Rachel Budke Rachel is a senior at Kansas State University, where she is studying Bakery Science. In the fall of 2013 she studied abroad in Florence, Italy. She loves cooking, photography and DIY projects.