On Tuesday I checked out
Queenies Lunchroom. I had spotted it in a issue of Canvas and read that it had won some design awards. The place is gorgeous and the owner is wonderful. We had a great little chat. She gave us some tips on painted concrete floors...
a, preparation is key, fill in any holes, they will only gather dirt,
b, don't use a varnish, it will go yellow and look like nicotine stain,
c, watch out and stay away from paints that make the floor slippery.
Amongst other yummy treats we had Pikelets topped lemon curd, creme fraiche and raspberries. What more could I wish for? That got me thinking about yummy lemon curd so I thought I would share with you my favourite lemon curd tart recipe.
(I say mine but really my sister makes it and I eat it)
Lemon Curd Tarts
(makes 48)
150 ml lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup (125 g) sugar
100 g butter, diced
4 sheets ready-made shortcrust pastry (24 cm x 24 cm)
2 tablespoons icing sugar
-Whisk together the lemon juice, zest, egg yolks and sugar, then cook in a saucepan or until the sugar has dissolved.
-Gradually add the butter, stirring continuously, and cook for 10 minutes, or until think.
-Remove from the heat and cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin forming.
-Refrigerate until needed.
(the curd should last up to 2 days)
-Preheat the oven to moderate 108 degrees (350F/ Gas 4) and lightly grease 24 x 3 tartlet tins.
-Cut 48 rounds from the pastry with a 5 cm cutter and line the tins with half of them.
-Lay the other rounds on a lined baking tray, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. Bake the cases for 12 - 15 minutes, or until golden.
-Allow to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining rounds.
(I would suggest only making half of the tart bases and using the rest of the curd for other yummy adventures like on pancakes, cake even toast)
When cool, dust each tartlet with icing sugar and spoon 1 teaspoon curd into each tartlet base. Don't assemble too far in advance or else the base could go soft. To prevent the bases going soft you could paint melted chocolate on the inside of the cases.
