Sweet dough
90g unsalted butter
50g caster sugar
1 pinch salt
1 vanilla bean, seeds scrapped and bean discarded
1 egg
20g almond meal
160g plain flour
Lemon curd filling
30g pouring cream
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 egg yolks
30g caster sugar
30g butter, diced
Meringue
2 egg whites
140g caster sugar
Candied lemon and orange zest, to decorate
Dried and crystallised lemon peel, to decorate
Method
Sweet Dough
1. Cream the butter, sugar and salt in a bowl. Add vanilla bean seeds and beat until fluffy. Add egg and mix to combine. Add almond meal and flour and mix until mixture forms a dough.
2. Place between two sheets of cling wrap, flatten and refrigerate for 2 hours to rest.
3. Flour bench, lay pastry on top and dust again with flour. Roll to a desired thickness and prick well with a fork. Cut rounds with a 12cm cookie cutter and lay into 10cm diameter tartlet cases. Gently press into tins to fit and roll over tartlets with a rolling pin to trim edges. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
4. Bake at 160°C for approximately 20-25 minutes or until golden.
Baked Lemon Meringue Tart
1. Preheat oven to 90⁰C.
2. Pour cream, lemon juice and zest into a small saucepan and bring to the boil over a medium heat.
3. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a bowl, add half the cream and juice mixture and whisk to combine. Pour back into the saucepan with remaining cream and cook, whisking until mixture comes to the boil and thickens.
4. Pass through a fine sieve and whisk in butter until thick and glossy. Allow to chill for 30 minutes. Spoon into a piping bag and pipe into baked tart shells.
5. For meringue, beat egg whites to soft peaks. Gradually add caster sugar, beating well between each addition until dissolved.
6. Pipe meringue onto the filled tartlet cases and brown with a blow torch.
7. Garnish with candied lemon and orange zest and dried and crystallised lemon peel.
