Lemon Meringue Tart

Right now we are in the middle of citrus season, and a co-worker gave me a bag of Meyer Lemons. I knew exactly what I was going to make, lemon tart! I love this dessert, it is so light and not too sweet. This pate sucree is really light, with the addition of an egg yolk and butter. Make sure you tag me on Instagram if you make this, I would love to see how everyone decorates the tart.

Pate Sucree (Tart Shell)

1/4 cup of unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 cup of cake flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp of sugar

1 tbsp of egg yolk + 1 tbsp of water whisked together

5 tbsp of butter

You can mix all of the dry ingredients together into the food processor with the butter by pulsing a couple of times until the mixture has small pieces of butter (size of peas), then add the water/egg mixture and pulse until dough comes together. Shape crust into a disc, wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before shaping and baking. Preheat oven to 350F.

Flour your board generously with flour, take pate sucree out of fridge. Unwrap dough and put onto board, top with some flour as well. Roll out into a circle more than 10 inches in diameter. Get a sheet pan and cover with parchment paper, put flan ring onto sheet pan and put dough into flan ring and press dough up the sides. This dough is very soft, don’t worry if you get a tear, just push back together with fingers. It does not have to look perfect, trim off excess if you have any. Cover the tart dough with another piece of parchment and your pie weights (I use dry beans). Transfer shell to oven, bake for 15 minutes, remove from oven and remove pie weights and top parchment, place back in oven and bake for another 10 minutes.

Let shell cool before taking out of flan ring. Take your time, use a knife to loosen the edges before pushing out. Keep room temperature in a covered container until ready to use.

Lemon Curd

lemon zest - 3 small lemons

juice of 3 small lemons

pinch of salt

3 egg yolks

3 tbsp of sugar

3 tbsp of butter unsalted

Place lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, egg yolks, sugar into a heatproof bowl. Place over a pot of simmering water - double boiler or bain marie - and whisk constantly until mixture thickens. This usually takes 8-10 minutes. Do not have boiling water too hot, this will curdle your mixture and you will have lemon eggs, eww! Once lemon curd has thickened, take off heat and strain through fine mesh strainer. Add butter immediately, whisk well. Refrigerate for at least 5 hours before using.

Meringue

1/2 cup of egg whites

5 tablespoons of fine sugar

pinch of cream of tartar

1 tsp of vanilla extract

Put egg whites into your stand mixer bowl, whip on medium speed until frothy. Add the cream of tartar, increase speed slowly to high. Once you have soft peaks, start to add the sugar a tablespoon at a time. The egg whites should be stiff and hold their shape. Add vanilla and briefly mix.

Putting Together

Tart shell goes on the bottom, spread the cold lemon curd with a spatula. Then decorate with meringue, can spoon on or pipe on. Either use a pastry blow torch or put under broiler for a minute or so. If you use broiler, watch carefully otherwise you will have charred meringue!