Mini Lemon Tarts - The Effortless Chic

Today's sweet treat is brought to you by Rachel over at Tickle Me Sweet. I met her quite a few months ago on a photo shoot and had no idea she was such a talented baker until recently. Of course as soon as I made that discovery I pleaded and cajoled until she agreed to share one of her tasty recipes with us here! (So maybe, there wasn't a whole lot of cajoling going on, but I would have if I had needed to 😉 ) Not only is she talented and sweet, but the fact that her first recipe post puts to use all of the excess lemons in my backyard is a major bonus. These bite-size treats are going to be perfect for impromtu summer barbeques at our place!

Mini Lemon Tart Recipe:

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Fruit of choice:

2 plums

Handful of blueberries and blackberries

1 sprig of mint

Slice your plums into thin halves, squeeze slice of lemon and sprinkle a 1 teaspoon of sugar in bag, set aside.

Mini Crusts:

1 homemade crust: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_pie_crust/

Roll out your crust on a lightly floured surface until the dough conforms to shape. Spray regular size cupcake tin with cooking oil, mold dough into regular size cupcake tin and bake for 10 minutes or until very lightly brown. Set aside on cooling rack and let cool completely.

Cream Filling:

2 ¾ cups milk

⅔ cup sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

4 egg yolks

2 tbl butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large lemons

*This can be prepped earlier than your crust, it needs to cool completely*

Add milk, sugar, cornstarch and egg yolks - in that order - in bowl, whisk together. (this is going to sound insane) In a microwave safe bowl, microwave mixture for 6 minutes on high, whisking until smooth after 3 minutes, then every minute on the minute after that whisk as well. When finished, add butter and vanilla whisk until smooth.

To Assemble:

Right before you fill the tarts, squeeze 2 large lemons (minus seeds) into the mixture. I also added a ¼ cup lemon zest, some people are weird on texture...it isn't necessary. Fill each baked tart shell with cream filling. Top with fruit of your choice and decor to your hearts content!

Rachel's site is brand new-- Be sure to hop over and check it out! Give her facebook page a like while you are at it!

{Image by Rachel Metz}