An elegant tart filled with Meyer lemon curd and topped with fluffy meringue
Ingredients
Tart Shell
7 ounces cold, unsalted butter
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
½ cup ice water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Meyer lemon curd
6 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
¾ cup freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice
4 oz unsalted butter
Meringue
6 egg whites, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch salt
½ cup sugar
Instructions
To make the tart shell, cut the butter into small cubes and place half of the cubes in the freezer. Return the other half to the refrigerator until needed.
Combine the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to mix. Add the chilled butter from the refrigerator to the dry ingredients and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
Add the frozen butter to the food processor and pulse until the butter is in small but still visible pieces.
Combine the lemon juice and ice water and add six tablespoons of the mixture to the ingredients in the food processor. Pulse several times until combined. Pinch a bit of the dough and if it holds together, you do not need to add more liquid. If it is still dry, add more of the liquid, one-half tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough to a bowl or a well-floured board.
Knead the dough until it forms a ball. Divide the dough into two and wrap each half well in plastic wrap. Place half the dough in the refrigerator to relax for at least a half-hour. Reserve the other half for another use. (Can be done in advance.)
To make the Meyer lemon curd, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar In a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan until well-combined.
Add lemon juice to the pan and stir with a wooden spoon.
Gently heat the mixture over medium to medium-low heat stirring constantly until it begins to thicken and coat the back of a spoon, about 10 to 15 minutes. Do not let curd boil.
When curd has thickened, remove from heat and stir in the butter until melted.
Strain the curd through a fine-mesh strainer into a bowl to remove any pieces of cooked egg.
Refrigerate until ready to use. (May be done in advance.)
To make the tart, begin by blind-baking the tart shell. If your dough was chilled for longer than thirty minutes, remove from the refrigerator and allow to soften for ten to fifteen minutes before rolling it out.
Prior to rolling out the dough, strike it with your rolling pin to flatten. This will soften it further.
Preheat the oven to 400 and grease the bottom and sides of a tart pan.
Liberally dust a pastry board or mat and your rolling pin with flour.
Roll the dough out, rotating it and turning it frequently and adding more flour as necessary to keep it from sticking, until it is the size of your tart pan and between ¼ and ⅛ of an inch thick.
Carefully center the tart dough in the pan and press it into the bottom and sides. Trim or fold over any excess dough around the edges. (If time permits, chill the tart shell in the pan prior to baking.)
Cover the dough with foil or parchment paper and weight with pie weights or raw rice.
Bake for twenty minutes. Remove pie weight and liner.
Cool tart shell on a wire rack. Cool completely before filling.
Fill tart shell with lemon curd and smooth top. (The tart can be served as is, or garnished with whipped cream or berries if you prefer.)
Prior to making meringue, preheat or turn oven up to 425.
Whip egg whites, cream of tartar and salt using a hand mixer or the whisk attachment of a standing mixer until frothy.
While whipping, gradually add the sugar, one tablespoon at a time.
Beat until the meringue holds stiff peaks.
Spread meringue evenly on top of lemon curd making sure to spread it all the way to the edge because it will shrink in the oven.
Using a small butter knife swirl the meringue making small peaks.
Bake the meringue for three minutes until the tops of the peaks begin to turn golden brown.
Chill until ready to serve.
Recipe by West of the Loop at https://www.westoftheloop.com/2015/01/01/meyer-lemon-meringue-tart/