Sunday, June 12, 2016

Sunday, June 12, 2016

What the Beck???

Sur la Table “Perfect Pie from Scratch” 

Part B:  Classic French Lemon Meringue Pie

We used mini tartlet pans. Bummer - I would 
have loved to make a giant pie, but the pans 
are perfect for one person.

The crusts are pricked with a fork and a weight 
is placed on the crust to keep it in place.

We used the second pie crust that we 
made for the strawberry rhubarb pies.
We did fold the edges under and make a nice
decorative edge - oops I forgot that photo

For the lemon curd we needed lemon zest and juice, eggs, egg yolks, sugar, sea salt and unsalted butter.

We began by removing the zest of the lemon

We beat the eggs and yolks

We added in the lemon juice and zest

Next in was the salt

and sugar

We mixed it all together

We continuously whisked the mixture over a double boiler

Chef Dau showed us that the lemon curd is done 
when you swipe the spoon and the swiped area 
stays open and the rest doesn't run down
from the tops of the swipe. Hence, the stripe.

We then placed the curd in a wire sieve and used a 
spatula to push the curd through the mesh
to remove any lumps

We whisked in cold butter

and poured the curd in individual tart pans

Now, on to the meringue. The ingredients that we will need are egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar and vanilla.
We began with the egg whites.

in went the sugar

and lastly the vanilla, but we were 
supposed to do it later in the process. OOPS!

The bowl was placed over a simmering pan 
of water and whisked constantly.

It took awhile for the meringue to thicken and 
read 140 degrees on the instant read thermometer

We transferred the meringue into the bowl of a stand mixer.

We added in the cream of tartar.
This is where we should have added in the vanilla.

We blended it until it looked like a big marshmallow.

The meringue is spooned onto the tart

The final step was to use a kitchen torch 
and brown the top of the tart.
OMG - this tasted so fabulous!!!