Sunshiney lemon tarts for a lovely sunny day. The perfect pretty summer treat! 🍋💛
Jill Stewart (@jillbakes_)
County Antrim Foodie and Instagrammer
Ingredients
Makes six 10cm diameter tarts
• For the pastry:
250g plain flour, sifted
40g icing sugar
175g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1 large egg yolk (save the white for the meringue)
3-4 tbsp cold water
Or
1 pack shop-bought shortcrust pastry
• For the easy lemon filling:
397g tin condensed milk
Juice of 2 lemons (about 80ml)
Zest of one lemon
2 egg yolks (keep the whites for your meringue)
• For the Italian meringue:
150g caster sugar
60ml cold water
75g egg whites
Instructions
Sorry this is a lengthy method but so worth it in my opinion!
For the pastry, sieve the flour and icing sugar into a large bowl. Add the cubes of butter and rub in using your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs (try to keep the mix as cold as possible so don’t over handle).
Beat the egg yolk with a fork in a bowl and add to the mix along with 3-4 tbsp very cold water using a knife to form a dough. Do not overwork this!
Wrap it up in cling film and put in the fridge to chill for 20-30 minutes.
Grease your tart cases.
Then roll out the dough on a well-floured surface with a rolling pin. I divided my dough into 6 equal parts, using 4 parts for the larger tarts and rolled out each separately to about 2-3mm thick and push into the greased tart cases using your fingers or the end of your rolling pin. Make sure it’s pushed right into the edges. Don’t cut off any overhanging pastry before cooking - just leave it for now.
I combined the final 2 parts of dough into one large part which I rolled and cut out 6 smaller circles using a fluted cutter which fitted the muffin tray.
Or roll out your shop bought pastry using the same method!
Cut squares of greaseproof paper large enough to cover all of the pastry and fill with baking beans/rice. Put in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and then blind bake your tarts for 10-15 minutes until slightly golden. Remove the paper and rice/beans and leave to cool for a couple of minutes. Then transfer to a cooling tray to cook fully.
Make the easy lemon filling by mixing the condensed milk, lemon juice, egg yolks and lemon zest in a medium bowl.
Now it’s time to trim the excess pastry off your tarts. Use a vegetable peeler and just shave off the excess - this leaves a lovely smooth edge to your tart which is neater than trimming before you bake it. (Top tip!)
Pour/spoon the lemon filling into the pastry cases. Bake in the oven for 6-8 minutes, then leave to cool.
Meanwhile, make the Italian meringue - this type of meringue doesn’t require cooking in the oven as the hot sugar syrup cooks the egg whites enough to be safe to eat.
Add the egg whites to a stand mixer and whisk until stiff peaks-this takes about 7-10 minutes.
In a medium saucepan, add the sugar and water. Use your index finger to mix together and make sure there is no sugar stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Then turn on your hob to a medium heat. Use a sugar thermometer and heat until it reaches 118-120 degrees. Be careful - this stuff is HOT!
Then pour into the whisked egg whites on a very low speed setting making sure the hot syrup dribbles down the side of your mixing bowl and mix until the mixture is shiny and smooth and holds nice peaks.
Transfer your meringue to a piping bag fitted with a large star or round nozzle.
Pipe the meringue onto your tarts in whatever design you prefer or use a spoon if you don’t have piping bag/nozzle and use the back of the spoon to pull up little meringue peaks.
Then either use a blowtorch or place under the grill for a few seconds to caramelise the meringue.
The perfect pretty summer treat! 🍋💛
MEET JILL STEWART
Jill Stewart, from Portglenone, is a true Foodie who brings her passions together to create a unique balance of both healthy dishes and sweet treats on her Instagram social media blog, Jill Bakes.
Jill is passionate about creating and sharing recipes on her Instagram platform (@jillbakes_) which are easy to follow, quick to make and not using hundreds of ingredients! And with over 14,000 followers, a lot of people are enjoying Jill’s food journey.
The County Antrim lady has been a keen baker from a very young age, learning many skills from her late Grandma who was a fantastic baker.
Jill is a regular recipe contributor for Ireland’s Homes Interiors and Living magazine.
Head over to INSTAGRAM to discover JILL BAKES by pressing the button below - it is a fantastic blog where you'll discover enough inspiration to keep you baking and cooking for months!
