These mini strawberry lemon curd tartlets are made with a shortcrust pastry tart shell made in a muffin pan, filled with tangy lemon curd, and topped with fresh strawberries and powdered sugar.
Confession: I'm one of the laziest people you will ever know. Actually, let me rephrase that. I'm the laziest person when it comes to things I don't want to do. Like dishes, cleaning up, and replying to texts. It's a funny (more like detrimental to my mental health) combination being lazy and also a perfectionist. So when a lazy girl wants to make something cute, these mini muffin pan tarts are it.
Tarts are one of my favourite things to make. The flavour, filling, and topping options are endless. For these lemon curd tartlets, I shrunk them down and made them mini-sized because everything is cuter when they're mini. The lemon curd filling is so easy to make and all you need to do is spoon the curd into the mini tart shells and serve!
How to make mini tarts in a muffin pan
This is my favourite way to make mini tarts because all you need to wash is one muffin pan. There's no fumbling with several individual tart tins and it's a breeze to get in and out of the oven.
To make mini tarts in a muffin pan, roll out any shortcrust or pรขte sucrรฉe tart dough about โ inch thick. Use a 3" circular cookie cutter to stamp circles out of the dough.
Gently lay each dough round on top of each muffin mold and slide it down until the bottom of the pan is covered and the dough comes up about halfway up the sides. Gently press the dough into the bottom edge and smooth out any lumps or air bubbles.
Fill muffin liners with pie weights, uncooked rice, or beans and insert on top of each tart shell. Blind bake the tart shells in a 350F oven for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.
If the tart you're making has a baked filling, remove the tart shells from the oven after about 7 minutes. If you're using an uncooked filling or separately prepared filling like in this recipe, bake the tart shells all the way until they are golden brown.
How to make lemon curd
This super luscious lemon curd makes a great easy tart filling and the leftovers can be saved for topping on all sorts of baked goods or as a filling for cakes or crepes.
To make lemon curd, whisk together eggs and sugar in a small pot until thick and smooth.
Add in lemon juice and vanilla. Heat this mixture on medium heat while stirring constantly until it thickens into a custard consistency, about 5 minutes. Make sure you keep stirring otherwise you'll just end up with cooked eggs.
Remove the pot from the heat and whisk in one cube of room temperature butter at a time until all the butter has melted and fully incorporated.
Transfer the lemon curd to a small container to cool completely.
Why you'll love these lemon curd tartlets
- There is minimal baking in this recipe (only 10 minutes for the tart shells) so it's perfect for hot days or when you just don't want to turn on your oven.
- You can make 12-18 tarts in one muffin pan, depending on the size of your pan. No need to mess around with several individual two-piece tart pans.
- The components are simple and can be customized any way you like. Top these lemon curd tartlets with different fruits or whipped cream.
- The mini tart shells and lemon curd can be made a day or two in advance. On the day you want to serve them, all you have to do is spoon the lemon curd into the tart shells and top them with chopped fresh strawberries and a dusting of powdered sugar.
More lemon recipes to try
Recipe
Strawberry Lemon Curd Tartlets
Ingredientsย ย
Tart Shell
- 120 g powdered sugar
- ยฝ teaspoon salt
- 170 g unsalted butter, softened
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 350 g all-purpose flour
Lemon Curd
- 2 large eggs
- 90 g granulated sugar
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 50 g unsalted butter, softened and cubed
Toppings
- strawberries, roughly chopped
- powdered sugar, for dusting
Instructionsย
Tart Shell
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together powdered sugar and salt.
- Add softened butter and cream together with a hand mixer or stand mixer until smooth and creamy.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and cream together until smooth.
- With the mixer on low speed, mix in the flour until no large dry patches of flour remain. Don't overmix!
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and form into a flattened disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350ยฐF. If the dough is too hard, let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes to soften before rolling it out.
- On a floured surface, roll the dough out to be about โ " thick.
- With a 3" circular cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough. Place each circle off dough into a muffin pan and gently press the dough into each mold.
- Insert cupcake liners into each muffin mold and fill with pie weights or uncooked rice or beans.
- Bake tart shells for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely before removing the tart shells from the muffin pan.
Lemon Curd
- In a small pot, whisk together eggs and sugar until it becomes a paste.
- Add in the lemon juice and stir to combine.
- Heat the mixture on medium heat while stirring continuously. The mixture will start to thicken after about 5 minutes.
- When the lemon curd is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove the pot from the heat.
- Stir in one cube of butter at a time until all the butter is melted and thoroughly combined.
- Transfer lemon curd to a small bowl to cool completely.
- Spoon about 2 tablespoons of lemon curd into each tartlet shell. Top with strawberries and a dusting of powdered sugar.
Notes
- Both the baked tartlet shells and lemon curd can be made a day in advance and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Assemble the tartlets when ready to serve.
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