Lemon Meringue Tart

French Sweet Tart Crust

Ingredients

• ▢1 1/2 cups flour , plain/all purpose

• ▢6 1/2 tbsp soft icing sugar / powdered sugar , sifted

• ▢2 1/2 tbsp almond meal / ground almonds

• ▢1/4 tsp salt

• ▢100g / 7 tbsp butter , unsalted, softened, cut into 1cm cubes

• ▢1 large egg , at room temperature 

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Instructions

• Mix Dy Ingredients: Whisk together flour, icing sugar, salt and almond meal in a bowl.

• Add butter: Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles breadcrumbs.

• Add egg: Mix with a rubber spatula until it becomes too hard to stir anymore, then use your hands to bring it together into a dough.

• Bring dough together: Turn dough out onto a work surface, then knead to bring together into a smooth ball. Flatten into a 2cm / 0.8" thick disc. Wrap with cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

ROLLING OUT:

• Unwrap chilled dough. Place on a lightly floured work surface.

• Roll out into desired shape for your tin

LINE TART TIN:

• Line tart tin: Roll pastry lightly on to a rolling pin (ie. so it wraps around itself). Then unroll it gently over the tart tin.

• Fit pastry: Adjust the pastry to fit into the tart tin, fitting into the corner, taking care not to stretch it (causes shrinkage during bake).

• Trim excess dough: Roll the rolling pin over tart tin to trim excess dough. 

• Prick the base of the pastry 30 times with a fork. Not all the way through – just make a light prick on the surface.

• Chill pastry in tart tin for 30 minutes.

BAKING:

• Preheat oven to 200°C / 390°F (180°C fan).

• Baking beads: Cover pastry with 2 sheets of baking paper (parchment paper), in a "X" arrangement. Fill with baking beads (or 2 cups dry raw rice or beans).

PAR BAKED TART CRUST:

• Baking times for a Par Baked Tart to be used for tarts that are baked for > 30 minutes once the filling is added into the cooked tart shell.

• Bake 15 minutes the remove from oven. Use excess paper to remove baking beads.

• Bake uncovered 5 minutes: Return tart crust to oven for 5 minutes. Pastry should be light golden, crispy on surface, but slighty undercooked inside (will finish cooking once filled and baked again). 

FULLY COOKED TART CRUST:

• Use these baking times if the tart shell is to be used for raw fillings (ie tart not baked once crust is filled) OR fillings that are baked for < 25 minutes.

• Bake 15 minutes the remove from oven. Use excess paper to remove baking beads.

• Bake uncovered 10 minutes: This will fully cook the pastry through and give it nice colour which we need as the pastry won't cook through in less than 25 minutes once filled.

COOL & USE

• Cool: Remove then cool in tart tin before filling (this ensures crust stays crispy once filled), then baking again if filling needs to be cooked

• Make ahead up to 3 days, suitable for baking once filled

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Microwave Lemon Curd

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar

• 3 large eggs

• 1 cup fresh lemon juice

• ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

• 3 medium lemon, zested

Directions

1. Whisk sugar and eggs together in a microwave-safe bowl until smooth. Stir in lemon juice, melted butter, and lemon zest.

2. Microwave on high in 1-minute intervals, stirring after each interval, until thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. 

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Basic Italian Meringue

Ingredients

• ¾ cup sugar

• ¼ cup water

• 1 ½ tablespoons light corn syrup

• 3 large egg whites, room temperature

• Pinch of salt and cream of tartar

Directions

Step 1 Make sugar syrup

Bring sugar, water, and corn syrup to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook, undisturbed, until syrup registers 248°F on a candy thermometer.

Use a wet pastry brush to wipe down the sides of the pan and clean off any sugar granules as you make the syrup. This prevents granules from caramelizing on the sides and the sugars from crystallizing in the mixture as it cools.

Step 2 Whisk egg whites:

Meanwhile, whisk whites with a mixer on low speed until foamy.

Step 3 Add salt and cream of tartar and whisk:

Add salt and cream of tartar. Increase speed to medium, and whisk until soft peaks form, about 8 minutes.

Step 4 Add sugar syrup:

Reduce speed to low, and pour hot syrup down side of bowl in a slow, steady stream.

Step 5 Beat meringue:

Increase speed to high, and beat until mixture stops steaming, about 3 minutes. Use immediately.

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Let your creative side take over and decorate!