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Saturday, June 11, 2011

Lemon Meringue Tarts

I adapted this recipe combination for my younger sister's  bridal shower and was really pleased with how they turned out! These cute little tarts were a hit! Her favorite dessert in the whole world is Lemon Meringue Pie so this is my take on that in tart form, because who doesn't love a cute little tasty tart?

Lemon Meringue Tarts
Yield: 36 cupcake sized tarts

Crust:
1 cup Powdered Sugar
1 ½ cups cold unsalted butter cut into small cubes
3 cups flour
½ tsp Almond extract
In the bowl of a food processor combine all ingredients until it forms a dough. Roll dough into tablespoon sized balls. Press tablespoons into a tart pan or cupcake pan to form a crust.  Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 mins. Cool completely.
Filling:
2 large boxes Lemon Jello Pie filling (8 serving size)
ingredients to make jello according to box directions
Make pudding and allow to cool for 8-10 minutes then spoon into the crust while pudding is still hot.
Meringue:
6 egg whites
12 Tablespoons of granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Beat the egg whites until frothy; gradually add sugar. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Add vanilla or other flavoring. Spoon onto pie, spreading to crust edge to seal: while filling is still warm so that the meringue can cook from the bottom too. Bake it at 325° for 10 to 12 minutes, until nicely browned. But watch it carefully because it’s very easy to burn. Allow to cool and serve them the same day.

***If you plan to serve them another day I suggest that you make the crusts and freeze them. Do not fill them until right before you want to serve them because the crust will start to crumble due to the moisture in the lemon filling.