Small Indulgence - Lemon Mini Tarts

Summer is lemon season, at least in San Diego. Everyone is giving away lemons and limes. It's a great time for that dear little sweet tooth of mine, because lemon tart ("tarte au citron" as my mom says) is one of my favorite dessert. Or I shoud say it is in the top 100 :)

I normally make one big tart with generous slices and meringue on top, but i have been itching to use that silicone minitart mold I found at Tuesday Mornings for $5 ! Obviously I had to adapt my "tarte" skills to the small bite size the mold has to offer. After experimenting a bit, I found that it is easier to precook the crust using the mold, let it cool down then transfer them to a rack and fill them up with the lemon-flavored cream, before placing the rack in the oven for another round of baking.

The result is deli-hmmmm-cious ! And they are so small you don't feel guilty at all ! Not until after the third one :)

Alright, here is how I did it.

Ingredients:

• for the dough: 8 oz flour, 4 oz butter, a pinch of salt, 1 egg, vanilla flavoring, and 1/4 cup almond flour
• for the cream: 1 egg, 1 yolk, 2 oz sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, 1/2 cup half and half, 1 lemon

Directions:

1. Prepare the dough as instructed in the "basic crust recipe" post. I added the almond flour for a flakier dough.
2. Make a little ball of dough for each well in your mold. You've got to experiment with how many you need for a well, as each mold can be different in size. With the proportions given, I can make 14 mini tarts.
3. Press and mold each ball into a tart crust. Poke each with a fork at the bottom to let air escape during baking.
4. Bake at 350F for 15 min and let them cool down.
5. Prepare the cream by beating the egg, the yolk, the sugar, and the flour then add the half and half, the lemon zeste and its juice. You should get a creamy consistency.
6. In my case I place a little bit of cherry jam at the bottom of each crust for extra flavoring, but you dont have to. Add the lemon cream to each crust. (Another option I like is to add melted chocolate and let it seize before adding the lemon cream).
7. Bake at 350F for 30 min.
8. Once it's cooled you can drizzle some confection sugar on top for presentation.

Now it's your turn ! Good luck !