I have been wanting to make something like this for quite some time now, and a work party finally gave me the opportunity. I’ll admit these were somewhat time consuming, but I enjoyed every minute of it. For some reason “slaving away in the kitchen” doesn’t really seem like work me, it’s too much fun.
These tarts are made with sweet tart dough, lemon curd, whipped cream, fresh berries and mint.
And they are delicious! And super pretty too. I’ll definitely be making more of these during the warmer months when fresh fruit is abundant. The fresh berries and the fresh lemon juice really made these tarts stand out. You really can’t ask for fresher flavors.
Oh, and by the way I love lemon curd. You can use it for so many things- fillings for cakes, pies, tarts, as a topper for biscuits and scones. Or you can eat with straight with a spoon like I do.
Sweet Tart Dough
3/4 cup unsalted butter
1 2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 egg
3 cups plus 1 Tbsp flour
Cream together the butter and the powdered sugar in a bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the egg and mix until smooth and clump-free. With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Do not overmix; mix only until just combined. The dough should be firm and not sticky. I ended up needing to add a little bit more flour than was called for to achieve that consistency.
Roll dough into a disk shape, wrap in plastic wrap and let rest in fridge for no less than 30 minutes. Roll dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Since I was making mini tarts I used a cutter to get uniformed circles of dough. Place dough in greased tart pan and bake at 350 degrees. My tarts baked for 9 minutes. Cool on a wire rack completely.
Lemon Curd
1 cup butter, cubed
1 cup sugar
zest of three lemons
10 egg yolks
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Bring half of the butter, half of the sugar, the lemon juice and the zest to a boil in a saucepan. Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks and the rest of the sugar. Slowly temper the hot liquid into the egg yolks. Add a spoonful of the lemon juice mixture at a time to the eggs, whisking continuously. If you add too much of the hot liquid at once, your eggs will curdle and you do not want that. By tempering you are slowly raising the temperature of the eggs.
Once you’ve tempered half of the mixture into the eggs, return all of it to the saucepan and continue to cook, stirring constantly until thickened. You’ll want the whisk to leave a trail in the curd. Strain the curd with a fine sieve into a bowl. Immediately place plastic wrap over the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Put in the fridge to cool.
To make the curd go farther and to lessen the mouth-puckering tartness, I folded in one cup of sweetened whipped cream. It definitely still had the zingy lemon taste, but had a creamier texture.
I then piped the filling into the baked tart shells and topped with fresh berries and mint. And voila!
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3 Responses to Mini lemon curd tarts
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about me
Hi, I'm Annalise and I love to bake. Welcome to my blog! Follow along as I try new recipes, share baking tips and tricks, and overindulge my sweet tooth.Current Favorites
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Those look and sound so good, but right now I’m on the look out for your souffle (sp?) recipe. Gonna make it for valentines day!
How many mini tarts can be made from the above recipe? Is it necessary to use a mixer for the dough making?
Honestly, I cannot remember how many mini tarts this recipe makes. I would estimate at least 2 dozen. I'm sorry, hope that helps!