Gluten Free Lemon Meringue Tarts

Tangy lemon tarts with a crumbly biscuit base topped with Italian-style meringue!

Yield: 12 tarts
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 20 min

Lemon Meringue Tarts

I'm a lemon lover. The tart burst of juice that causes lips to purse as if ready for kiss excites me. Just thinking about the flavor of lemon as I type this, I'm beginning to salivate! Something else that makes me salivate is a good lemon meringue tart. Especially these babies. 

On our last day in Paris, French food blogger and cookery book author, Pascale Weeks, led a pastry making masterclass where we all pitched in and she taught us how to make tarteletts au citron meringuees or lemon meringue tarts (if you can read French, go here to read the recipe in French on Pascale's blog!). These tarts were a collective effort: I helped make the lemon cream and Chiara piped the beautiful meringue that Tobi helped to make. All under Pascale's ever-watchful instruction. 

My love of lemon started early. As a child, I'd almost always choose the yellow and blue boxes of Lemon Heads for my treat when we'd visit a candy shop. In the backseat of the car, I'd suck each round lemon-flavored ball, eating them until my eyes watering from the tartness. Lemon, for me is a comforting flavor. It reminds me of those summer days, with my rattling box of Lemon Heads and it reminds me of more sophisticated, adult experiences with it, like in an incredibly rich lemon posset. Lemon is intoxicating and enthralling. I'm not the only one who gets captivated by it; just look at Tobi's reaction:

Ingredients:

For the pastry
2 medium egg yolks
75 grams icing sugar
125 grams butter, softened
250 grams gluten free bread flour
 
For the lemon cream
1 large lemon's zest
2 medium eggs
40 grams sugar
120 grams white chocolate buttons
125 grams lemon juice
 
For the Italian meringue
2 medium egg whites
30 grams sugar
50 grams water
150 grams sugar

 The ingredients for this recipe are as given by Pascale. The instructions are my own.

 

Instructions:

Lemon Meringue Tarts

For the pastry

1. Cream the butter, sugar and egg yolks using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer.
2. Beat in the flour and mix until fully incorporated.
3. Knead the batter to form a ball. Cover with cling film and refrigerate an hour.
4. Roll out the dough and press into 6 greased tart tins. Prick the dough with the tines of fork and allow to rest 20 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 170c/350f.
6. Blind bake the tarts for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.

For the lemon cream

1. Zest the lemon into a medium sized bowl.
2. Add the sugar and eggs to a medium sized sauce pan along with 125 milliliters of lemon juice and the zest.
3. Cook on low, whisking constantly until the cream begins to thicken.
4. Melt the chocolate either over a bain marie or in the microwave.
5. Once the lemon cream is thick and has slightly cooled, pour it in thirds into the white chocolate, mixing well between each addition.
6. Cover the cream and chocolate mixture by placing cling film so that it is touching the cream.
7. Refrigerate until needed.
8. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag when needed and pipe equal amounts into each pastry case.

For the Italian meringue

1. Pour 150 grams of the sugar and water into a medium sized sauce pan. Allow the sugar syrup to reach a temperature of 118c.
2. Whisk the egg whites with the sugar using a stand mixture while you wait for the syrup to come to temperature.
3. When the syrup is at temperature, slowly drizzle it into the back of the stand mixer's bowl to form a meringue. Continue whisking until the temperature decreases to just over room temperature or 40c.
4. Spoon the meringue into a piping bag and pipe on top of the lemon cream in the pastry cases. You can pipe dollops or swirls or whatever design you prefer.
5. Use a kitchen blowtorch to brown the tops of the tarts.