Lemon and Raspberry Tarts.

The other day I bought a set of individual tart tins I really like individual puddings they instantly look so much smarter than something you have tried to cut up nicely. The problem with them is though that you do have to slightly alter recipes to fit the new dimensions both for quantities and cooking time. I had been meaning to try out Heston Blumenthal's lemon tart recipe as you don't have to bake the lemon mixture only the pastry cases. I have a habit of when blind baking, always either ending up with slightly uncooked pastry on the bottom or a burned rim. This therefore seemed an ideal solution and a good excuse to try out my new tins. I took them along as pudding for a picnic which they were perfect for. The quantity of pastry lined 10tins but the mixture only filled 8.

For the pastry I used my standard short crust pastry recipe which I use for everything.

Ingredients:
8oz Flour
5oz Butter
Zest of a lemon
2oz Icing sugar
An egg yolk
The juice of a lemon

Method:

Put all the dry ingredients into a blender until you have a bread crumb texture. Then add the yolk and enough juice to bring the mixture together. Chill before working with. With small tins like these I don't bother rolling the pastry out I cut slices of a sausage shaped roll and push them together in the tin.

Ingredients:
3 Unwaxed Lemons
170g unsalted butter
220g caster sugar
5 Eggs
1 Egg yolk

Method:
Blind bake the pastry first. Put the butter and sugar into a pan with the juice, zest and eggs and place the pan over a medium heat. Stir continuously for 10-15 minutes (do not allow to simmer) until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to medium-high and stir until it begins to simmer; simmer for 5 seconds literally, then remove from the heat. Pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl.You do actually do need to do this because the minute that you stop stirring the egg will start to scramble but the little lumps sieve out easily. Cover with clingfilm to avoid a skin forming, and place the bowl in the fridge to cool for 30 minutes.

When cold, pour the lemon filling into the centre of the tart allowing the lemon curd to flow evenly to the edges. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour or until set. I also stuck raspberries onto the top as it was easier for a picnic rather than serving along side and having to use cutlery. In the end I would use the raspberries on the top again as the looked great.