Lemon Meringue Tarts

I haven't been doing so much sleeping this week. Lying in bed attempting to sleep I've done a lot of, but not so much managing to actually sleep. I did have a cunning thought though, what about lemon meringue tarts. There's a cupcake book I've borrowed from my cousin which suggest lemon meringue cupcakes, and I was pondering whether or not it was going to spoil the cupcakes. Anyway, resultantly, I decided to try and make lemon meringue tarts!

So, pastry. I just made normal boring shortcrust pastry as it seems to work fairly well.

8oz plain flour

4oz butter (definitely not marg or it's not very tasty)

2 tbsp of water or whatever brings it together. 

Make breadcrumbs of flour and butter, using a knife to start with and then fingertips. Then bring it together using tablespoons of water, added bit by bit to make it a dough, then wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour. Roll it out, cut into circles and line a patty tin. 

Lemon filling.

I actually made lemon curd, I'm quite proud. I might do it again, as it tastes really yummy. 

I used Delia's recipe this time as her recipes always work! (I might use another next time though, as there are some that use just yolks so can use the whites for the meringue!) 

Grated rind and juice of 1 large, juicy lemon (I used 3/4 of a small lemon and halved the rest of the ingredients as I lacked enough large lemons)

3oz caster sugar

2 large eggs

2oz unsalted butter

Place lemon rind and sugar in a bowl. In another bowl whisk the lemon juice  together with the eggs, then pour this mixture over the sugar. Add the butter cut into little pieces, and place the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir frequently until thickened - about 20 minutes. (If you want to keep it put it into a clean, dry screw-top jar.)

For orange curd - replace the lemon with 1 large orange. 

It worked well, it just takes a while - I might try making it in a saucepan apparently it's faster, and if you're careful it won't go wrong. I'll let you know once I've tried

Meringue

I only made a little bit, but for that amount of lemon curd you'll need around!

2 egg whites (left over from ginger biscuits yesterday!)

4oz caster sugar

Whisk the egg whites until thick and can turn the bowl upside down. Not too much or they'll collapse. Then add the sugar bit by bit until goes all white and shiny and pretty. 

Spoon a teaspoonful of lemon curd into the unbaked pastry rounds, I put a nice big tsp in but it's just according to taste! Then spoon a little meringue on top - remember it will rise up so don't make sure it's below the rim of the pastry or it'll just lift off once it's cooked (I discovered this from my first mini batch attempt!). Also if you swirl it a bit and put it to a point it'll look prettier than mine ;)

Cook for 15 mins at 180C. It seems to work anyway, I was just taking a massive guess, but they taste rather yummy. I much prefer the home made lemon curd as it's much more lemony and a little sharper than the shop bought stuff, though there wasn't quite enough so I had the fill the last few with lemon curd. 

I made 12 in total with meringue made from 1 egg white (so half the recipe above) and half the quantity of lemon curd topped up with shop bought for the last 3. So, I'd say for 12 you need 1 1/2 quantities of the lemon curd and 2 egg white meringue. Plus, if like me you like lemon curd, you can make as much as you like and keep it for another time and another eating. 

The taste testing of all my friends was fully in favour, and I'm definitely going to make them again. Here's photos of before and after the cooking - demonstrating the rising of the meringue!