Did you know that lemon is the new chocolate? I read this somewhere recently and I would have to agree. It appears that all over the place people are casting aside their slabs of couverture chocolate, cocoa and chocolate drops to celebrate this wonderful fruit in every way possible.
Lemon Tassies are very similar to mini lemon tarts. I am not too sure why they are called tassies and my research was not too successful. It seems that they may have originated in the deep South (USA) but I only found one very vague indication of this. One thing I did discover was that the word ‘tassie’ can also mean ‘small cup’ so I am wondering if perhaps it’s somehow transfered to a mini dessert and the pastry shell is the small cup that holds the filling…
I know in some minds (Mr Man’s in particular) chocolate will never take a back seat to the luscious lemon. It really doesn’t matter anyway, with these little delights as part of your dessert tray I am sure you can fit in both lemon and chocolate.
Pastry Shells
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
1/2 cup butter
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons cold water
Lemon Curd
¾ cup (200 mls) of fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon of freshly grated lemon rind
¾ cup sugar
3 eggs
125 grams/4.4 ounces of unsalted butter, cut into cubes
In a medium bowl stir together flour, the 1/3 cup sugar, and 2 teaspoons lemon peel. Cut in the 1/2 cup butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a small bowl combine the 1 egg yolk and the 2 tablespoons cold water. Gradually stir egg yolk mixture into the flour mixture. Gently knead to form a ball. If necessary, cover and chill for 30 to 60 minutes or until dough is easy to handle.
Preheat oven to 375° F. For filling, place all ingredients in a medium sized saucepan. Cook over a medium low heat, whisking until thick enough to hold marks from the whisk and first bubbles appear on the surface, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes.
Divide dough into 30 pieces. Press evenly onto bottoms and up sides of thirty small (1 3/4-inch) muffin cups. Bake about 10 minutes or until pastry is golden, rotating pan half-way through. Cool in muffin cups on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove tassies from the cups.
Spoon filling amongst all pastry shells – about 1 heaped teaspoon each. Cover and chill for 1 to 2 hours before serving.
Notes: This lemon curd recipe is so easy and the best by a long shot (in my opinion). If necessary you may need to strain it through a fine seive – but whatever you do don’t let it cool too much before you place it into the pastry shells.
Source: Adapted from Better Homes & Gardens
© 2011, Michelle. All rights reserved.
