Its Valentines day today, and despite my love for chocolate my other-half loves tart, citrissy treats. So I thought why not let him indulge in an amazing Lemon tart, not just any lemon tart.. a lemon Meringue tart 😉 Its sweet, but tangy, soft and gooey, but holds together nicely. Its a great treat with some amazing coffee! And not hard to make! Give it a try, im sure you’ll be swooned!

Here’s how you make it!

INGREDIENTS :

For the Pastry –

• 175g flour
• 100g cold butter, cut into cubes
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar
• 1 egg yolks
• 2-4 tablespoons ice cold water

For the Filing –

• 2 1/2 tablespoons cornflour (maizena)
• 50g brown sugar
• 50g caster sugar (regular white sugar)
• Zest of 2 Lemons, finely grated
• 125ml fresh lemon juice (roughly 3 lemons)
• Juice of a small clementine (small orange)
• 75g butter
• 3 egg yolks & 1 whole egg, whisked together

For the Meringue –

• 4 egg whites
• 200g sugar (caster sugar)
• 2 teaspoons cornflour (maizena)

METHOD :

1. Starting with the pastry – In a food processor, pulse in together all the ingredients except the water. And pulse until it becomes grainy. They slowly add in the cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing in between, until it starts coming together. (If you dont have a food processor, then you can break it apart by hand, works just as well, im just lazy and like using kitchen appliances 🙂 )
2. Then tip the pastry onto a lightly floured surface, and work the dough until it comes together ´- NOT too much!, just until it comes together – Then roll it out and place into your tart shell.
3. Poke holes in it with a fork, then cover it with foil, and chill for 30 min to an hour, until harden. (You can keep it overnight if you like).
4. Then bake it at 180C for 15 minutes, with the foil on, I placed dry beans, as this is a ‘blind’ bake, just so that the pastry doesn’t puff up. Then take it out, take off the foil, and bake for another 8 minutes, until light golden brown.
5. Take out, and let it rest until ready to fill.
6. For the filling – In a saucepan, whisk the cornflour, sugars, zest, lemon juice, orange juice, and water. Then heat it on medium-high until tít thickens (I usually check that it covers the back of a spoon when lifted out)
7. Add in the butter, and mix until fully melted.
8. Then add in the whisked egg yolks/whole egg mixture, and bring back on the heat (medium), and whisk rigorously until everything is combined and the filling doesn’t curdle. Once its thickened, pour it into a bowl, through a strainer, and cover with cling film/plastic wrap (I use eco-friendly plastic made from sugar by NinjaPlast , for those living in Scandinavia you can purchase them here – click)
9. Leave it to slightly cool, in the fridge
10. Then make you Meringue – Whip together the egg whites and cornflour, until fluffy, then add in the sugar bit by bit, until the meringue thickens.
11. You can put it in a piping bag if you want to decorate it, or just spread it on however you feel.
12. Once everything is done, then grab your tart shell, pour in the filling with a ladle, and then top it off with the meringue – the filling could still be warm, so make sure to pour the meringue fast, and start at the edges working inwards.
13. Then bake for 15 min on 180C, until the top is golden brown. As ovens vary, you could start the first 5 min at the top of the oven to catch the crust of the meringue to stiffen and turn golden brown, and then place is on the lowest shelf for the remaining 10 min for the tart to cook through.
14. Take it out, and leave it in the case for 30 min, take it out, and place in the fridge for about an hour to an hour and half until the filling is completely set.

And Voila! Your done!