Three Citrus Meringue Tart Recipes

MINI LEMON MERINGUE TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Arrange tart shells on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until heated through, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven; leave oven on.
• Whisk egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, butter, lemon juice, and zest together in a medium bowl. Whisk in buttermilk. Add flour and salt; whisk well.
• Pour filling into the tart shells, filling them almost to the top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until filling rises and appears set, about 15 minutes. Watch carefully to avoid overcooking.
• Prepare meringue while the tarts are baking. Beat egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed until frothy. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar and cream of tartar; continue beating until meringue is stiff and shiny.
• Top baked tarts with meringue. Ensure that you press the meringue down to form a seal around the edges.
• Return tarts to oven and bake until meringue starts to brown, about 10 minutes more. Let cool before serving.

LEMON MERINGUE TART

Steps:

• Combine the flour, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Put the flour mixture in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and shortening and pulse about 10 times until the butter is in small bits. Add the ice water and process until the dough comes together. Dump on a well-floured board and form into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Roll out the dough and fit into a 9-inch tart pan with removable sides. Don't stretch the dough when placing it in the pan or it will shrink during baking. Cut off the excess by rolling the pin across the top of the pan. Line the tart shell with a piece of buttered aluminum foil, butter side down, and fill it with dried beans or rice. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the beans and foil and prick the bottom of the shell all over with a fork to allow the steam to escape. Bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
• Raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees F.
• For the meringue, whip the egg whites, cream of tartar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on high speed until frothy. With the mixer still running, slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and beat until the meringue is thick and shiny, about 2 minutes.
• Immediately spread the lemon filling in the cooled tart shell and pipe the meringue over it with a large star tip. Be sure the meringue covers the entire top and touches the edges of the shell, to prevent it from shrinking. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes, until the meringue is lightly browned. Cool to room temperature.
• Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 1 minute. On low speed, add the eggs and egg yolks one at a time, and then add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt. Don't worry; it will look curdled.
• Pour the mixture into a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until thick, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Whisk briskly when it starts to thicken and cook over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Don't allow it to boil! It will be 175 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Pour into a bowl and cool to room temperature.

LEMON MERINGUE TARTS

Steps:

• For the crust: Place 12 identical 3 1/4-inch brioche a tete molds in the freezer.
• Combine flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to 2 to 4 times, then add butter and pulse 8 to 10 times, until texture looks mealy and no large lumps of butter remain. Pour on water and pulse 5 times. (At this point, the mixture should hold together when squeezed.) Turn the dough out onto a sheet of plastic wrap and draw the plastic up around it, squeezing and pressing the dough into a ball. Flatten into a 1-inch-thick disk and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap and place on a lightly floured piece of parchment paper. Dust the top of the disk with a small amount of flour and top with a second sheet of parchment. Roll dough out into a round 1/8-inch thick. Use a 5-inch biscuit cutter and cut 6 circles out of the dough. Re-roll once if necessary.
• Remove the brioche molds from the freezer. Line 6 of the molds with the dough, being careful to press the dough into all the nooks and crannies. Gently run the rolling pin over the tops of the molds to trim the edges. Nestle each of the empty brioche molds inside the molds with the dough. Place the sandwiched molds in the freezer refrigerator for 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and position a rack in the center of the oven with a second just beneath it.
• Remove the sandwiched molds from the freezer. Place them, inverted, directly on the center rack with a sheet pan on the rack below to catch any butter that might render out. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove the molds from the oven. Flip right-side up and remove the top molds.
• Turn the oven up to 400 degrees F, return the tart shells to the oven and bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes more. Remove the tart shells from the oven and let cool completely on a baking rack before removing the shells from the molds.
• For the lemon filling: Whisk egg yolks until light in color in a medium nonreactive bowl and set aside.
• Whisk cornstarch, sugar, water and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and temper the yolks by slowly adding the hot starch mixture to them in a steady stream, whisking constantly, until a third of the starch mixture has been worked into the eggs, then return that mixture to the saucepan. Whisk in the butter and continue heating until just boiling.
• Stir in the lemon juice and zest, reduce heat to medium-low and whisk constantly until mixture returns to a boil. Cook for 1 full minute more, then transfer to a medium bowl over an ice bath. Cool, stirring occasionally, until the curd is just slightly warmer than room temperature. (Do not chill or cool completely, or the curd will become difficult to spread.) Pour or use a pastry or zip top bag with the corner cut off to pipe the mostly cooled curd into the tart shells until flush with the tops of the shells. Cool filled tarts completely on a baking rack while you make the meringue topping.
• For the meringue: Whisk together the egg whites until foamy, then add the sugar, cream of tartar and salt in the heat-proof bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 165 degrees F. Then return the bowl to the base of the stand mixer and whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until medium-stiff peaks form. Increase the speed to high and whip until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes total. Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a star tip.
• Pipe the meringue to cover the top of the cooled tarts. Brown the meringue under a preheated low broiler, about 1 minute, or with a kitchen torch.

TRIPLE-CITRUS TART

Steps:

• Make the pate sucree: Sift flour and a pinch of salt into a bowl, and set aside.
• Beat butter and confectioners' sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale, 2 to 3 minutes. With machine running, add egg, and beat until fully incorporated. Add orange zest, and beat for 30 seconds. Reduce speed to low, and add flour-salt mixture, beating until just combined. Wrap in plastic, and chill for at least 1 hour.
• Make the pastry cream: Combine milk, vanilla bean pod and seeds, and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
• Whisk together egg yolks, cornstarch, and remaining 2 tablespoons granulated sugar in a separate bowl. Slowly add 1/3 cup milk mixture to the egg mixture, whisking to combine. Add egg-milk mixture back to the pot, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a mixing bowl, and beat in butter with paddle attachment until combined and cream has cooled, about 5 minutes. Strain into a bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the cream, and refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Make the tart: Generously butter a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan. Set aside. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a 10-inch round with 1/4-inch thickness. Fit dough into tart pan, pressing gently along the sides and bottom of pan. Trim excess. Refrigerate or freeze for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake until crust is firm and golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.
• Prepare citrus fruit: Place citrus segments into a colander to drain. Cover, and refrigerate.
• Beat chilled pastry cream with paddle attachment until smooth, about 30 seconds. Set aside. Whip heavy cream using the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold whipped cream into pastry cream.
• Spread cream into cooled tart shell using a small offset spatula. Arrange citrus segments in a circular pattern around the tart, starting with the darkest color on the edge of the tart. Serve cold.

THREE-CITRUS MERINGUE TART

Steps:

• FOR CRUST:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan with nonstick vegetable oil spray. Mix flour and sugar in large bowl. Add melted butter and stir with fork until mixture forms coarse crumbs (mixture will be dry). Using fingers, press crumbs over bottom of prepared baking pan. Bake until crust is set and light golden, about 20 minutes. Cool crust completely on rack. Maintain oven temperature.
• FOR FILLING:
• Mix first 4 ingredients in small bowl. Whisk egg whites, egg, juices and peels in medium bowl. Add flour mixture; whisk until smooth. Pour filling over crust.
• Bake tart until filling is set, about 18 minutes. Cool completely on rack. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)
• FOR TOPPING:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in clean large bowl until soft peaks form. Add sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and beat until stiff peaks form. Spoon meringue over filling, covering completely. Sprinkle peels atop meringue. Bake until meringue tips begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to rack. Cool completely. Cut into 6 pieces.

LEMON MERINGUE TART

Steps:

• For Pastry.
• Sift flour onto work surface and make a well in center.
• Mix sugar, yolks, vanilla and salt in well using fingertips until sugar and salt dissolve.
• Pound butter with rolling pin to soften, break into pieces and work into sugar mixture using fingertips.
• Using pastry cutter or dough scraper, cut flour into sugar mixture until well blended; gather into a ball.
• With heel of hand, push small pieces of dough down on surface away from you to blend butter and flour thoroughly; gather into a ball.
• Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.
• Roll dough out on lightly floured surface to thickness of 1/8 inch.
• Fit into 9 1/2-inch tart pan with removable bottom.
• Trim edges, cover with plastic and refrigerate 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Lightly butter foil cut to fit bottom of tart pan;set buttered side down in tart pan.
• Fill shell with dried beans or pie weights.
• Bake until pastry is set, about 15 minutes.
• Remove weights and foil.
• Return to oven and bake until brown, 6 to 8 minutes.
• For Filling.
• Whisk sugar, lemon juice, eggs,yolks and peel in top of nonaluminum double boiler set over boiling water until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes; do not let boil.
• Remove from heat and whisk in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time,completely incorporating each before adding next.
• (Can be prepared up to 2 weeks ahead,covered and refrigerated).
• Pour filling into crust and cool to room temperature.
• For Meringue.
• Preheat broiler.
• Whisk sugar and whites set in stainless steel bowl set over saucepan of boiling water until slowly dissolving ribbon forms when whisk is lifted, about 10 minutes.
• Remove from heat and beat with electric mixer until whites are cool and stiff.
• Spoon into pastry bag fitted with star tip.
• Pipe concentric circles of stars atop tart, pulling up at the end of each star.
• Broil about 12 to 15 inches from source of heat until meringue is lightly browned, about 1 minute.
• Serve immediately.

LEMON-ORANGE MERINGUE TARTS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 250°F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Draw six 4-inch circles on paper.
• In large bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar at medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar, beating at high speed until stiff glossy peaks form and sugar is almost dissolved. Spoon meringue onto circles on paper-lined cookie sheet, building up edges to form 1-inch-high sides.
• Bake at 250°F. for 1 hour. DO NOT OPEN OVEN. Turn oven off; leave meringues in oven with door closed for 2 hours.
• Meanwhile, in medium saucepan, combine 1/4 cup sugar and cornstarch. Slowly stir in orange juice. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until mixture thickens. Stir in lemon juice and lemon peel. Cool completely. Store filling in refrigerator.
• To serve, spoon lemon filling into meringue shells. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. If desired, garnish with mint leaves.

DOLESTER MILES'S LEMON MERINGUE TART

Steps:

• In the bowl of a food processor, place flour, confectioners' sugar and salt, and quickly pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs, then add egg yolks and pulse until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch, then transfer it into a 9 1/2-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan, then trim it by rolling your rolling pin over the top of the tart pan edge. Pierce crust all over with a fork and freeze for 30 minutes. Remove from freezer, place tart pan on a baking sheet, and bake for about 20 minutes until golden. Remove tart from baking sheet and let pan cool slightly on a rack.
• Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Separate the eggs, saving 3 of the whites to use in the meringue. In a small saucepan, stir together 1/2 cup/101 grams sugar, the lemon zest and juice and the egg yolks. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until quite warm. Stir in butter and continue to cook, whisking to prevent burning, for about 7 to 10 minutes or until the mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat and stir in the white chocolate until it melts into the mixture.
• Pour lemon mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium bowl and use a spatula to press until just the solids remain. Discard the solids. Spoon mixture into the prepared tart shell and chill for 4 hours.
• Make the meringue: Set up a double boiler and bring the water in the bottom pan to a boil over medium-high heat. Combine the 3 egg whites with 3/4 cup/151 grams sugar in the top of the double boiler and whisk constantly until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is hot.
• Pour the meringue mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip at medium-high speed for about 2 minutes then increase speed to high and whip for about 4 to 6 minutes more or until the mixture is stiff. Spoon meringue over tart and spread with an offset spatula.
• Using a kitchen torch, brown the meringue lightly, holding the torch about 2 inches away from the tart. Alternatively, place tart under a preheated broiler with the oven rack placed 8 inches from the heat source. Broil 30 to 45 seconds, watching carefully so the meringue turns golden brown and does not burn. Remove tart ring and serve immediately.

EASY LEMON MERINGUE TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 150C.
• Crush biscuits in food processor or roll in bag with rolling pin until small/fine mixture of crumbs.
• Mix in melted butter and biscuits in large bowl until well coated. Biscuits should be sticky enough to stick together.
• Coat the sides and bottom of an approximately 22cm tart pan with the biscuit mixture.
• Put in fridge to set while you work on the rest of the recipe.
• Mix together condensed milk, egg yellows and lemon juice until well combined.
• Beat egg whites until foamy. Add half the castor sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form. Add the rest of the castor sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
• Pour lemon mixture into tart pan. Add the stiff egg whites on top and use back of spatula to form peaks and valleys to make cake look decorated.
• Bake in oven on middle shelf for 40 minutes.
• Once cooked, cool in fridge for approximately 2 hours.
• Serve cold.