Miller, Lucy. '7 Foods You Need To Know About For Fat Loss'. Metro. N.p., 2013. Web. 5 Sept. 2015.
Feature Ingredient: Eggs
Chicken eggs have many nutritional qualities (supplies all essential amino acids and contains many other vitamins and nutrients), making them an extremely popular and common ingredient in various cuisines, in both sweet and savoury dishes - sometimes even in drinks (although this is lesson common). Hence, they are usually mass produced to keep up with the demand, however, this can often affect the quality of the egg, in terms of how fresh the egg is, for example. Not only this, but mass production of eggs can often mean poor treatment of chickens; it is therefore important to seek free range eggs!
Ingredients:
Tart cases
Lemon curd -
5 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
Zest of 1 lemon
110ml fresh lemon juice
110g of white sugar
60g cold butter, chopped
Meringue -
3 egg whites
180g caster sugar
Dash of vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Method
1. To make the lemon curd, combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs and sugar in a metal bowl.
2. Place the metal bowl over a pot of bowling water that is still simmering on low heat (base of the bowl should not be touching the water), this is called bain marie. Gently whisk the ingredients together and continue stirring to ensure the eggs do not cook (completely).
3. Once the egg mixture has thickened, take it off the pot and add the cold pieces of butter to help cool the mixture down. Mix the butter chunks in with a whisk. The mixture should now look more smooth, but you will notice some white bits in it - that's bits of egg that have been cooked. Run the mixture through a sieve to separate those bits out. You'll be left with a smooth and silky lemon curd.
4. Spoon the lemon curd into the tart casings and bottle up any remainder - lemon curd goes perfect with toast!
For a simpler version of what to do, check out this video from which the recipe is from!
5. To make the meringue, beat the egg whites in a grease proof beater on low speed until some bubbles begin to form, then increase speed to high until stiff peak consistency.
6. Add the caster sugar one spoonful at a time, until all of it is in. Continue to mix the mixture for 7 - 8 minutes.
7. Add in a pinch of salt and a dash of vanilla extract to add some flavour to the mixture. Allow it to mix for 30 more seconds to just combine.
8. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag and pipe onto each of the tarts.
9. Place the tarts into the oven at 140˚C for just a few minutes (keep an eye on them) or until they have browned slightly.
10. Serve chilled or as is.
1. To make the lemon curd, combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs and sugar in a metal bowl.
2. Place the metal bowl over a pot of bowling water that is still simmering on low heat (base of the bowl should not be touching the water), this is called bain marie. Gently whisk the ingredients together and continue stirring to ensure the eggs do not cook (completely).
3. Once the egg mixture has thickened, take it off the pot and add the cold pieces of butter to help cool the mixture down. Mix the butter chunks in with a whisk. The mixture should now look more smooth, but you will notice some white bits in it - that's bits of egg that have been cooked. Run the mixture through a sieve to separate those bits out. You'll be left with a smooth and silky lemon curd.
4. Spoon the lemon curd into the tart casings and bottle up any remainder - lemon curd goes perfect with toast!
6. Add the caster sugar one spoonful at a time, until all of it is in. Continue to mix the mixture for 7 - 8 minutes.
7. Add in a pinch of salt and a dash of vanilla extract to add some flavour to the mixture. Allow it to mix for 30 more seconds to just combine.
8. Transfer the mixture into a piping bag and pipe onto each of the tarts.
9. Place the tarts into the oven at 140˚C for just a few minutes (keep an eye on them) or until they have browned slightly.
10. Serve chilled or as is.
Below are some photos of this process:
To make the lemon curd
Combine the sugar, eggs, lemon juice and zest.
After being on the bain marie set up, the mixture should have thickened.
The cold butter should melt into the mixture and make it more smooth
Running the mixture through a sieve will also assist in separating the cooked eggy bits
I just used some pre made tarts
Spoon the mixture into the tart casings
Pipe the meringue mixture to top the tarts
Brown in the oven and serve cold or warm
Ratings/Comments:
Price: 4/5
Difficulty: 4/5
Taste: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
(1 being low/bad - 5 being high/good)
These lemon meringue tarts are a perfect afternoon snack or dessert - the sweet and lemony flavours work in harmony to produce such an indulgent treat. It's also a good spin on the regular lemon tart (which is much larger), there can be considered "tartlets" - really great as finger food. Any leftover lemon curd also pairs well with the morning toast, a burst of flavour aside from the regular 'ol jam. I also enjoyed just making this recipe, as it showcases just how "useful" and versatile eggs are! Hope you give it a go,
- C
Price: 4/5
Difficulty: 4/5
Taste: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
(1 being low/bad - 5 being high/good)
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