Mini Lemon Curd Tarts
Ingredients
Sweet Tart Dough:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter
- 1 ⅔ cup powdered sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
Lemon Curd:
- 1 cup unsalted butter , cubed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Zest of 3 lemons
- 10 large egg yolks
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Fresh berries , for topping
Instructions
To make the tart shells:
- 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°F. My tarts baked for 9 minutes. Cool on a wire rack completely.
To make the lemon curd:
- 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.
Nutrition
Calories: 179kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 83mg | Sodium: 6mg | Potassium: 28mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 354IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 12mg | Iron: 1mg