Eat Together, Make Life Delicious...

Lemons always brighten me up during the cold winter months. My kids also like it with a small glass of chocolate milk and even grated chocolate bits sprinkled over the tart. I like it with a hot cup of tea or coffee. The savory yet sweet flavor just hits the spot. Lemon Curd Tarts can also be made with just about any fruit and is great assembled ahead of time. Other fruits to consider are: strawberries, cherries, peaches, apricots, blueberries, and raspberries.

Lemon Curd Tart
Makes 4 mini tarts

For the Press-in Pie Dough:
¾ cup unsalted butter
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

For the Homemade Lemon Curd:
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon Lemon zest
¼ cup freshly squeezed Lemon juice
5 tablespoons refined sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, sliced up into small pieces

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Prepare the press-in pie dough. Combine the butter, sugar, vanilla, flour, and salt and mix until thoroughly blended. Once the pie dough is formed it is ready to be pressed into a pie pan. Begin pressing as neatly as you are able into a 9-inch fluted tart pan and should be no thicker than ½-inch. Dock the pie crust with a fork (gently poking the bottom crust). If you have baking weights, place them in a cheese cloth and over the crust.

Place the tart pan in the oven to blind bake for 15 minutes. Turning it halfway through the baking process, when its done, the pie crust should be golden brown. If it is not, simply even it in the oven for another 5 minutes.

While the pie crust is baking, prepare the lemon curd. If you want to use store-bought, that's fine. Homemade is just tastier.

Prepare the homemade lemon curd. In a small sauce pan (not over heat) whisk together the eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar. Turn the heat to medium and stir with a wooden spoon until it becomes thick and coats the back of a spoon. Remove the sauce pan from the heat and add in the butter while constantly stirring. The butter will melt and be incorporated. Set it aside.

When the pie crust is out of the oven, set it aside and scrape the lemon curd into the pie shell. Cover the entire pie with plastic wrap and place it into the refrigerator to rest for 20 minutes. Serve at room temperature with a cup of your favorite tea or coffee.

Labels: Comfort Food, fruit topping, lemon curd, tarts