I love lemon meringue. It simply screams of spring.
Lemon is so clean and bright, fresh and renewing. Combine it with pillow-y, light as air puffs of meringue and I’m not sure it gets any better. Oh, wait. It does. Case in point: these lemon meringue tarts. Crisp coconut shortbread tart shells are filled with a tangy lemon filling made with fragrant Meyer lemons. The meringue on top is no ordinary meringue, but a refined sugar free Italian meringue that is completely stable and made with honey.
Italian meringues are ideal for tarts that are baked prior to topping. Since hot honey is slowly poured into the egg whites as they are whipped, the egg cooks and doesn’t lose it’s shape once piped out, nor does it leak while sitting on top of a tart or pie while refrigerated, as uncooked meringues do. The meringue is utterly fun to toast once piped or spread on top of the tarts. If you don’t have a Kitchen Torch
, you should. Even if you only use it for the occasional toasting of meringue (crème brulee is another excellent use for them as well), I think it’s totally worth it just to watch those little white clouds puff up and sizzle into a golden brown.
Eat these quickly! The crust tends to lose it’s crispness after the first day.
- FOR THE CRUST:
- 1 cup Coconut Flour
- scant ½ teaspoon Sea Salt
- 4½ tablespoons Maple Syrup or Honey
- ½ cup Coconut Oil at room temperature
- FOR THE LEMON FILLING:
- 3 Eggs
- 4 Egg Yolks
- ½ cup Honey
- ½ Cup Fresh Meyer Lemon Juice
- ¼ teapsoon Sea Salt
- 4 Tablespoons Butter, cut into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons Coconut Milk (canned, full fat)
- FOR THE MERINGUE:
- 1 cup Honey
- 2 Egg Whites
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- FOR THE CRUST:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the coconut flour and salt in a mixing bowl and whisk together. Add the maple syrup and stir in until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add the coconut oil to the mixture and work into the flour with a spoon or rubber spatula until the a dough forms and there are no pieces of coconut oil remaining.
- Divide the dough into 4 balls and press each ball into a 4" tart pan with a removable bottom. This may take some time - be patient and use the tips of your fingers to press the dough across the pan and up the sides. Place the tarts on a baking sheet.
- Bake the tart shells in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the crust is lightly golden brown across the bottom.
- Remove tarts from the oven and fill each one to the top with lemon filling.
- FOR THE LEMON FILLING:
- In a saucepan, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, honey, lemon juice and salt until smooth and fully combined. Heat on medium/high heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and begins to bubble, about 4-5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and whisk in the coconut milk.
- Divide evenly between the cooked tart shells.
- Place tarts back in the oven for an additional 4-5 minutes to set the filling, removing before the crusts get too dark (watch closely - coconut flour browns quickly).
- Remove and let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until cold.
- FOR THE MERINGUE:
- Place the honey in a small saucepan and heat on medium/high heat to 110 degrees. White the honey is heating, place the egg whites and salt in a bow and beat until they reach soft peaks.
- Once the honey has reached 110 degrees, very slowly pour it into the egg whites as you beat them on medium speed. continue beating until all of the honey has been incorporated. Continue to beat until the meringue cools down, another 3-5 minutes. During this time, the meringue should thicken up quite a bit.
- Top the chilled tarts with the cooked meringue, either with a spoon, or using a piping bag and tip.
- If desired, toast the meringue with a kitchen torch.
- Store in the fridge, covered, for up to 3 days. Crusts will lose their crispness after the first day.
