Meyer Lemon Tartlets

I was shopping at my favorite grocery store when I saw a special on Meyer lemons. For those of you who don't know the back story- Meyer lemons are native to china but were brought to the states in the early 1900's. They're the delicious saffron colored lovechild of mandarin oranges and lemons. They are sweeter and less acidic than regular lemons, and are excellent grilled with fish, and pretty much anything you would use a lemon for. The first thing I thought of when I saw them, was how tasty they would be in a tart or a curd.


I stumbled onto this recipe for Martha Stewart's lemon curd, and thought I would use the filling for little tartlets topped with meringues. I was making these for mother's day, and was running a little short on time, so I used store bought graham cracker crusts. But if you have the time, it's very easy to whip up a nice, crunchy crust. Pulse 12 whole graham crackers in a food processor with 6 tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of brown sugar until combined. Then press it into a tart shell, or in this case, individual tartlet shells and bake for 10 minutes or until it sets. Let it cool before putting any filling in it.

I made a few changes to Martha's curd, the first of which was that I used my Meyer lemons instead of regular lemons. I also wanted a really thick tangy curd, so I used 4 egg yolks instead of 3 and a little bit more than 1/4 cup of juice. I started by separating 4 eggs- the yolks for the curd, the whites for the meringue.


*Cook's note: In this situation I'm using the whites to make the meringue, but if you ever find yourself separating eggs, just freeze the whites or the yolks, don't throw them out! You can always use the whites later for a healthy egg white omelet, and the yolks for baking. If I know I'm not going to use them immediately, I freeze them in ice cube trays, that way I know that one cube = one egg white/yolk.

The yolks go into a small saucepan with the zest and juice of three lemons, and a cup of sugar over medium-high heat. You will need to stir to incorporate all the ingredients, and then stir consistently and briskly for about 10 minutes until the curd starts to thicken. If you find that it's not thickening, just turn up the heat.


You will know that your curd is thick enough when it coats the back of a spoon. A trick I use is to dredge my stirring spoon in the mixture, draw a line through it. If the curd doesn't run then it's done as displayed here:


When your curd is the right consistency, move the pan from the heat and stir in 8 tablespoons of butter and a pinch of salt. For all you naysayers, yes the butter is necessary. It smooths out the curd. As for the salt, you won't notice it, but if you don't add it you will miss it. If you are using the curd to make my tartlets you can pour the mixture directly into the shells. Otherwise, transfer it to a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. Wrap it tightly, all the way down to the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming.

here are my tartlets before I refrigerated them to cool, ready to be decorated with meringue:


To make the meringue is really quite simple. I used about two of the egg whites from the separated eggs, added two tablespoons of confectioner's sugar, and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. You can add lemon zest if you'd like, or you can omit the vanilla. Another quick cooking tip: the cap of the vanilla extract bottle is always equivalent to a teaspoon. I used an electric mixer to beat the whites, work at them until stiff peaks form.


I wanted to make these special, so I spooned some of the meringue into a makeshift piping bag made out of a sandwich bag with the tip cut off. I decorated the tartlets and popped them under the broiler to briefly brown them. When you put anything under the broiler, don't wander too far. After a few minutes the top of the meringue had browned. You want to let them cool a little before you serve them, but after you have, you'll wish you made a double recipe. These disappeared so quickly I personally wish I made more. The curd delivered and amazing lemon punch that was sweet and extremely tart. I think that most of the credit is due to the fruit, using meyer lemons made a big difference in the flavor. I really enjoyed the texture of the smooth curd against the crunchy graham cracker crust, though it completely overpowered the meringue. Perhaps in the future I would use more of it.


Lemon Curd (adapted from Martha Stewart's "Favorite Lemon Curd" Recipe):
-4 large egg yolks
-Zest of 3 lemons
-1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon meyer lemon juice
-1 cup sugar
-8 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into chunks

Classic Meringue
-2 egg whites
-2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Basic Graham Cracker Crust
-12 whole graham crackers
-6 tablespoons butter
-3 tablespoons brown sugar