LEMON TARTLETS
Lemon tartlets will always be reminiscent of Garden Parties for me. I vividly remember the first time that I attended a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace; it was a gloriously sunny English summer’ s afternoon. As a child growing up in South Africa, I would no more have dreamt of venturing inside the gates of Buckingham Palace than flying to the moon! It is a memory that I shall always treasure. In this recipe, I use lemon pastry and a filling of my home-made lemon curd, mixed with a little whipped cream. I decorate them with seasonal berries, fresh mint and edible flowers.
Ingredients YOU WILL NEED:
Twenty-four 5cm( 2 inch) tartlet moulds or 2 muffin trays, A metal pastry cutter 7 – 8cm( 2½ – 3 inches) in diameter and ceramic baking beans.
FOR THE LEMON PASTRY: 280g / 10oz butter( 1½ sticks) 140g / 5oz golden caster sugar( ⅔ cup) Zest of 1 un-waxed lemon 1 free-range egg 450g / 1lb plain flour( 4 cups)
FOR THE FILLING:
150ml / ⅔ cup double cream 360g / 12oz lemon curd( 1½ cups)
FOR THE DECORATION:
A selection of berries, mint leaves and edible flowers Icing sugar
Method
Makes approximately 24 x 5cm( 2 inch) tartlets
1. Make the pastry: Cream together the butter and sugar. Finely grate the lemon zest directly into the mixture, add the egg yolk and mix well.
2. Sift in the flour, mix and bring together to form a smooth dough. You can use a food processor to make the pastry. 3. Leave to rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. 4. Whip the cream until firm and fold in the lemon curd. Cover and leave in the refrigerator until required.
5. Roll the pastry out on a floured board to a thickness of about 3mm( ⅛ inch). Cut out circles of pastry and line the tartlet moulds.
6. Place a circle of baking parchment into each tartlet and fill with baking beans.
7. Chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes and set the oven to 180 º C / 350 º F.
8. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, depending on size. Remove the baking beans and parchment and return to the oven for a few more minutes to crisp up the tartlets.
9. Cool on a wire rack and then remove tartlets from the moulds.
10. When completely cold, fill with the lemon curd cream.
11. Decorate with your choice of berries and finish with flowers and mint. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.
12. To keep the pastry crisp for longer, paint the inside of the tartlets with melted chocolate. White chocolate is best as the strong flavour of dark chocolate conflicts with the freshness of the lemons.
13. If fresh berries are not in season, glaze the tartlets by sprinkling them generously with icing sugar, then using www a blow. society torch. qa you 55 can caramelise the sugar.