I love mini desserts. And I love lemon desserts. It clearly goes without saying (but when did that stop me from talking) that I love mini lemon desserts. And these tartlets really fit the bill. While any dough that you make yourself will taste better than a storebought one, in a pinch you can certainly use frozen pie crusts and make the super-quick filling in the microwave for a still-impressive dessert.
I love lemon, but you can try these with any citrus fruits. I made them with meyer lemons, which are an extra-flavorful, sweet variety that retain a fairly green color. Whatever concoctions you try, I'm sure they'll be delicious!
Crust:
21⁄2 cups (300 g) flour
1 cup (200 g) butter or margarine
1⁄2 cup (100 g) sugar
1 large egg
Filling:
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
4 teaspoons lemon zest (1-2 lemons)
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
For the crust: Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat to combine, then add the flour and mix until no streaks remain. Gather the dough together into one cohesive ball, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
Remove the dough from the fridge, and roll out on a well-floured surface (and continuously reflouring) until about 1⁄2 centimeter thick. Use to cover either a large tart pan or smaller ones (or even the cups of a muffin tin). For a large one, roll the dough to 2" larger than the pan, gently drape over it, fit the dough in to the corners then trim the edges. For little ones, use a cutter that is big enough to cover the bottom and sides of your tart pans, cut as many circles as possible from the dough and fit in to the molds, rerolling as necessary.
Prick the bottoms of the shells with a fork several times and put them in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Cover the shells with parchment paper then fill with pie weights or uncooked beans. Then bake the shells at 375 F for 15-20 minutes until light brown. Let cool.
Meanwhile, whisk together the sugar and eggs for the filling until smooth. Add in the lemon juice and zest and whisk to combine.
Stir in the melted butter until smooth.
Microwave on high, stopping to stir ever minute, for 5 to 6 minutes, until thickened.
Divide the mixture between the baked pie crusts and refrigerate them, flat, at least a few hours or overnight before serving.
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