Daisy Lemon Meringue Pies
Delicious zingy tarts with a set lemon curd, topped with italian meringue
makes 6 tarts in mini brioche tins, makes 4 tarts in mini 10 cm tart tins


Ingredients
Pastry:
- 125g plain flour
- 35g icing sugar
- 60g cold unsalted butter
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 tbsp water
Lemon curd:
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 large egg
- 150g caster sugar
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- large pinch of salt
- zest of 2 lemons
- juice of 3-4 lemons
- 130g cold unsalted butter
Italian Meringue:
- 60g egg whites
- 120g caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
Method:
Pastry:
- In a blender, blitz together the flour, icing sugar and butter until it forms a breadcrumb consistency. You can do this by hand, it will just take longer, and you want to avoid the butter melting into the flour!
- Add the egg yolk and water and blitz again until it starts to clump. If you need a bit more liquid, add a tiny bit more water until the dough comes together and you can form it into a ball.
- Wrap in cling film and rest the pastry in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, meanwhile preheat the oven to 170 C (fan).
- Roll the pastry out onto a lightly floured surface to around 4mm thick.
- Grease your mini brioche tins (I used brioche tins as they have more of a 'flower' appearance, however you can use regular mini tart tins, or even a large 8 inch tart tin) and then line it with the pastry, using your hands to gently work the pastry to the edges.
- Use a knife to trim off any excess pastry. Spend some time tidying up any uneven areas or cracks in the pastry to ensure it's neat!
- Chill the pastry again for around 20-30 minutes, this prevents the dough from shrinking.
- Place some baking paper on the inside of the pastry and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes, remove the baking beans and bake for a further 5-10 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.
- Remove from the tins and leave to cool.
Lemon curd:
- In a heat proof bowl ,whisk together the egg yolks and egg, cornflour, salt and sugar.
- Add in the lemon zest and juice (more or less lemon juice depending on how zingy you like it!) and then place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water.
- Continue to stir the mixture until it has thickened so that it coats the back of the spoon, this will take around 15 minutes.
- Add the cold butter, and stir until it has melted, then strain the curd through a seive to remove the zest.
- Leave to cool for a few minutes, then use the curd to fill the mini tarts.
- Place in the fridge to set for at least 4 hours.
- If you have any left over curd, store in a jam jar - it's delicious on toast or ice cream!
Italian Meringue:
- Whisk together the sugar and egg whites briefly in a heat proof bowl, and place over a bowl of simmering water.
- Continue to stir until you can feel the sugar has dissolved when you rub the mixture between your fingers there should be no grains of sugar.
- Add the vinegar.
- Transfer the bowl to a standing mixer, or use an electric hand mixer to whisk the egg whites to a stiff peaks.
To assemble:
- Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a small round nozzle, about the same size as the fluted edges of the tart tin.
- Carefully pipe the meringue from the edge of the tin to the middle, creating the 'petals' of the daisy, working your way around the edge.
- Use a small dollop of extra curd to create the centre of the flower, and there you have, a delicious lemon daisy! Of course you don't have to do a daisy design, why not swirl it, or dollop it on. Store in the fridge to ensure the curd stays set!
- Enjoy!
For a video on how to make these, head to my Instagram reel @alice.fevronia, and if you give them a go, please tag me as I'd love to see!
