Mini Lemon Tarts

Pie.

Who doesn't love pie? Whether it's a pie made from beautifully ripe apples or juicy berries, or a pie featuring a luxurious custard or silky mousse filling, what's not to love about succulent sweetness encased in a flaky, buttery pastry?

Last Saturday, I got some beautiful lemons at the farmers market, so I could make some more mayo. A small batch of mayo doesn't require very much lemon juice though, so I still need some more lemon-centric dishes. Lemon curd is probably on its way, but first, a refreshing lemony tart.

I should have blind-baked this pastry a bit longer so that it'd be more golden-brown, but it was delicious nonetheless.

A lot of people claim that they can't make pies at home because pie crust is too hard. Sure, pastry can be delicate. It takes some practice so that you can develop a feel for it, but there is nothing quite like being able to turn out a beautiful, flaky pastry.  For some fantastic tips on making a better pie crust, go to King Arthur Flour.

Mini Lemon Tarts

Makes two 4-inch tarts

Ingredients:

For the pastry*:

• 3/4 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter
• ice water

For the filling:

• 1/4 of a lemon, rind and all, seeds removed
• 3/8 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup blueberries
• lemon juice
• sugar

Directions:

1. Make the pastry: Sift the flour, salt and sugar together, and cut the butter into small cubes and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Alternately, you can use a food processor or a pastry knife.

2. Dribble the ice water in until the dough clumps together into a ball. I think I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons. It's better to add a bit of a time - it's easier to add more water to a too-dry dough than it is to remove moisture form a too-wet dough.

3. Once you can press the dough into a ball and it holds itself together without being sticky, sandwich the ball of dough between two sheets of waxed paper, placing it in a ziplock bag and put in the freezer for 10 minutes.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

5. Roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thickness and using a  bowl that is about 2 inches larger in diameter than your tart pans, cut out 2 circles and lay them in the tart pans. Place a layer of aluminum foil into each tart shell and line it with pie weights or dried beans to help keep the pastry from buckling and bubbling up. Place the tart pans on a cookie sheet and bake for 8 - 10 minutes, then take out and let cool on the cookie sheet.

6. Make the filling by blending together the lemon, rind and all, egg, sugar and butter in a blender until thoroughly processed. This could take up to 3 minutes. Strain if needed to get any stubborn pieces that refuse to give up the ghost.

7. Pour the filling into the tart shells.  Bake for 18 - 20 minutes or until the filling has set.

8. Cool the pans on racks.

9. To serve: Mix the blueberries with a teaspoon of lemon juice and roll in sugar. Top the tarts with the sugared blueberries and enjoy.


Notes:

• This pastry recipe made enough for three 4-inch tarts, but the filling only made two tarts. I made a mini quiche for my lunch with the third tart. :)
• I need a Vita-Mix blender or something, because it took forever for the lemon rind to get blended, even then, I had to strain the mix to get out some fairly large chunks.

Pastry scraps. What to do with that leftover pie pastry that you can't stretch into another tart shell?

Well, don't throw them out! Roll those pieces out thin and dust liberally with cinnamon and sugar, set them on a cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes or so or until the bottoms are golden-brown. Careful, these burn quickly. Eat while hot, straight off the cookie sheet.

My dad, who was a child during the Great Depression, said his mom called these sugar pies. I bet that they were a welcome treat for kids during lean times.

Fresh sugar pies

A closer look at the cinnamon sugar. Tweet

Momofuku Crack Pie in Miniature, My Version

I don't have an especially pronounced sweet-tooth; I am much more inclined to reach for something salty and crunchy or savory than run for a piece of cake or a handful of cookies, but I'm always interested in what tastes good. After hearing all the web-hubbub about the Crack Pie from Momofuku Milk Bar, I figured I had to check it out.

The recipe cited by the L.A. Times uses an oatmeal-cookie base for the shell, but to suit my taste, I knew I had to use a less-sweet crust, so I made a tartlet shell out of bittersweet chocolate and walnuts. I also am only baking for 1, so I halved, then quartered, then eighthed the recipe and adjusted it a bit and ended up with 2 miniature tarts.

The end result was total indulgent deliciousness, especially after it had been refrigerated overnight (and devoured for breakfast on this Post-Rapture Sunday), though my idea of food whose addictive qualities borders on crack is still going to be something on the order of a bowl of fresh guacamole with homemade tortilla chips or a big mess of cooked potatoes.

The filling is a lot like a pecan pie filling, minus the pecans, or like some chess pies I've had. Very silky when eaten warm; dense and smooth when cold. I am pretty sure that my kids will love these when I make them again, though I may have to sweeten the crust a bit for them since they are not as enamored of dark chocolate as I am.

Crack Pies in Miniature

makes 2 mini tarts

Ingredients:

For the tart shell

• 1/4 cup flour
• 3 T walnuts
• 2 T confectioner's sugar
• 1 T unsweetened cocoa
• 1 T espresso powder
• 2 T unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 in. cubes
• 1 yolk

For the filling

• 3 T brown sugar
• pinch of salt
• 2 t powdered milk
• 4 T unsalted butter, melted
• 1-1/2 T heavy cream
• splash of vanilla extract
• splash of bourbon
• 2 yolks

Directions:

Make the tart shell

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In the food processor, pulse the walnuts, flour, confectioner's sugar, cocoa powder and espresso powder until the nuts are finely ground.
3. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs.
4. Add the yolk and pulse until the mixture is crumbly.
5. Divide the dough into 2 pieces.
6. Spray 2 miniature tart pans with cooking spray and pat the dough into the pans. This is a very sticky dough, so I dipped my fingers in a bit of flour first.
7. Press some non-stick foil into the pans over the top of the crust and bake for 20 minutes.
8. Take out the pans and let cool.
9. Lower heat to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Make the filling:

1. Whisk together the brown sugar, milk powder and salt, making sure that there are no clumps.
2. Add the melted butter and cream and stir until all the dry ingredients have dissolved.
3. Whisk in the egg yolks and stir to combine, but don't over-beat the mixture.
4. Pour into crusts and place the pans into a roasting pan and pour in boiling water until it's about halfway up the outside of the tart pans.* (See Notes)
5. Bake for 12 minutes, then lower heat to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and bake another 8 minutes or until the center has just set. It should still be jiggly.
6. Take out and let cool. Chill in the fridge, even better.
7. When you're ready to serve it, sift confectioners sugar over the top.

Notes:

• My tart pans are the kind with removable disc-bottoms, so since they're n a water bath, it is important to wrap the outsides with foil so that none of the water seeps in. If you have 1-piece tart pans then there is no need to wrap them. I made the mistake once of baking a cheesecake in a springform pan without wrapping the pan before putting it into the water bath.
  
  Yikes.

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