Lemon curd mini tarts with peanut shortbread crust

Lemon curd mini tarts with peanut shortbread crust

I was CONVINCED for years that I hated lemon pie until I actually tasted it a couple years ago… It kinda blew my mind. I love it but I always find the store-bought ones too sweet and it ruins it for me. So I decided to make a not-too-sweet version that is still utterly delicious.

So, you know me, I like a good challenge, I decided to it on my own. Desserts making in general gives me a WHOLE lot of anxiety. When I cook, I always modify the recipe, adapt to what I have, I try and taste. Desserts is big no no for that, you follow the recipe to the T or you end up with a disaster. Hard for me

I played it cool and added my own little personal touch in the dough. I added ground peanuts in there to add a sweet note to the dough and the tart overall. You could follow the recipe and decide not to add the peanut, I tried it, it is still delicious. You can also replace the peanuts with almond or hazelnut flour.

Lemon curd mini tarts with peanut shortbread crust (6 mini tarts) :

For the peanut dough :

  • 140g butter
  • 1 egg
  • 100g sugar
  • 50g ground peanuts
  • 200g flour

For the lemon curd :

  • 4 eggs
  • 100g butter
  • 130g sugar
  • Zests and juice of 2 lemons

For the meringue :

  • 2 egg whites
  • Sugar : twice the weight of the egg whited

If possible, prepare your dough the night before so it is really cold when you roll it out.

For the dough :

Add the butter and sugar in a big bowl. Cream it with a hand mixer. Add the egg and mix a little more.

Add peanuts in a food processor and mix until you get a coarse powder.
Add it to the cream mixture, add the flour. Mix until you get a round sticky dough. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for as long as possible (at least 1h30).

Roll the dough with a rolling pin. Grease the mini tarts dishes. Add the dough in. Preheat the oven at 180°C/350°F and bake for 15 minutes.

When the crust is golden brown, take out of the oven and let cool completely.

For the lemon curd :

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

In a heat resistant bowl or a smaller pot, add eggs, butter, sugar, zests and juice of 2 lemons.

Put the bowl on top of the pot of boiling water to create a waterbath. Mix continuously for 15-20 minutes, the lemon curd will thicken and look like thick custard.

With a blender, mix the cream to smooth it.

Cover with plastic wrap and let it cool.

For the meringue :

Weigh your egg whites. Prepare twice the weight of the eggs whites in sugar (ex : 40g egg whites = 80g sugar).

With a hand mixer, beat the egg whites until doubled in size. Add the sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until you get soft and shiny peaks that hold well.

To assemble :

Garnish your crusts with the lemon curd using a piping bag. Let it chill in the fridge for an hour at least.

With a piping bag, create little peaks of meringue or a zigzagy shape like shown on the pictures on the lemon curd. Blowtorch to brown or not, both ways are delicious!

Serve cold and enjoy!


If you try this recipe, make sure to send me a picture on Instagram! 🙂