Today is National Lemon Meringue Pie Day and Julia Child’s birthday. So, I channeled my inner Julia Child and prepared scratch-made lemon curd and meringue for these little beauties. Admittedly, I used store bought tart shells, but I think Julia would be fine with it. These shells are from a local bakery, and are as close to homemade as you can get for the frozen section. Anyway, I feel good about it. I was, however, worried about making the lemon curd because it was my first stab at it. I persevered, because as Julia would say, “The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you’ve got to have a what-the-hell attitude.”
Notes
Lemon curd can be used for many other things. You can refrigerate the lemon curd for up to 5 days.
Ingredients
- 6-8 tart shells (I used store bought shells – depending on the size you will make anywhere for 6 to 8 tarts with this recipe)
- Lemon Curd:
- 6 egg yolks (reserve 4 egg whites for your meringue)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 TBS lemon zest
- Meringue:
- 4 egg whites at room temperature
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup plus 2 TBS sugar
Instructions
- Prepare tart shells according to package directions and let cool.
- Lemon Curd:
- In a small sauce pan combine egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Whisk constantly. This will take about 5 minutes. Do not allow the mixture to boil. You will know it is done when the mixture sticks to the back of a spoon.
- Remove from heat and whisk in butter and lemon zest. Set aside.
- Meringue:
- Place egg whites, cream of tartar & vanilla in a mixer with the whisk attachment. Whisk until soft peaks form.
- Continue whipping the egg white mixture, while adding 1 TBS of the sugar at a time, until it is all added. When stiff peaks have formed the meringue is done.
- Place meringue in a piping bag.
- Assembly:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Place 2-3 spoonfuls of lemon curd in each tart. Pipe a swirl of meringue on top of the lemon curd.
- Bake for 2-3 minutes, until top of meringue begins to lightly brown. Watch carefully, as this can happen quickly. Remove from oven and let cool. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
