I had a cocktail party to go to on Saturday night and apart from each guest being asked to bring a bottle of something (preferably lurid and potent) we were asked if we could provide any food. I think I was the only one who actually did, other than the host, and as we turned up after performing in a concert without having had dinner, I think we ate a large portion of what I bought!
I don't know when I thought of making little tartlets with the lemon butter I'd made recently, but I think it was a good idea, and pretty easy to do. I went to the effort of making my own pastry, but it's really not something you'd have to do. Frozen shortcrust would be just fine. I worry that I'm taking this domestic spirit thing too far, but I have to admit that the recipe I found for pate brisee is so damn easy that even I haven't had a problem making it, and when it comes to anything fiddly or capricious my fingers turn into thumbs. It also helps that it's the best pastry I've ever tasted - so light and full of flavour - and it's made in the food processor. Thank you Pascal, via Clothilde!
So, with pastry shells made and baked, I stored them for about a week before finishing them on the day (another virtue of this pastry, it keeps well). Filled them with a spoon of lemon butter before adding a dollop of meringue I'd made with 2 egg whites, 1/2 cup caster sugar and 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar. Add the sugar gradually so it dissolves between each addition. Easy as.
Making the meringue adhere to the tarts with any degree of artistic effort was pretty difficult and again my fingers failed me, but I survived to the end to sprinkle them with some raw caster sugar (made by CSR, and tastier than the normal stuff) place them in a hot (200c) oven for about 7 minutes until slightly browned and crisp.
Something like this could be a sugar overload, but a good home-made lemon butter is sour enough for the balance to work between marshmallow-like meringue, creamy sour lemon butter and the crisp tart shell. And at about 1am, with at least 4 cocktails already into us, these were pretty widely appreciated!
Wow, they're gorgeous Niki! And I love how every little piece of it is homemade - makes you feel good in that I-can-actually-accomplish-things-kinda way, doens't it?
ReplyDeletethey look GOOD!
ReplyDeleteOverload!
ReplyDeleteYou know, I just got a Donna Hay magazine from an Aussie blogger (which I loved, by the way; I totally get the Donna Hay thing now) which contained a recipe for lemon tartlets. My Grammy is coming for a visit at the end of the month, and as a grandmother, she loves lemon (is this true globally? or just true of the people I know? Grandmother's love lemon!). I was going to make the recipe from the magazine, but now I'm considering yours!
ReplyDeleteThese look so good Niki!
ReplyDeleteWhat lucky people your friends are to have you bring treats like this!
Zarah Maria - I realised as I was serving them that everybit was homemade, and felt quite proud of that. Of course, being drunk, all my friends were very vocal in their support too!
ReplyDeleteSam - Thank you! They *were* good!
Owen - hahahaha!
Stephanie - Donna Hay magainzes look gorgeous. I actually only realised fairly recently that she is Australian! Her recipes are usually pretty failsafe and give you lots of inspiration. I hope you enjoy your visit with your Grammy.
Clare - I reckon they're pretty lucky too!