Honey Swiss meringue citrus tart, or else the most delicious way to get the most out of winter goodies. Pick your favorite citrus fruits and let’s start baking!
There is no way to open my kitchen pantry and not finding some lemons in it. It is a must have ingredient for me, despite the seasons. Lemons are all year around.
A lemon will never hide from you. By taking into your hands, you will immediately understand if it is good or not, and how much juice it has to offer.
Its uses? There are so many. It can brighten the most indifferent baked potatoes, give the needed freshness to your favorite cocktail or even be a powerful ingredient for cleaning your kitchen.
And when the lemon pairs with sugar, they make miracles together. A beautiful combination that misses from my posted recipes. So it’s time for my lemon pie, or should I say my honey Swiss meringue citrus tart?
THE PIE CRUST
This pie crust is a little different from what I am used to. Although I usually use frozen butter in order to make the crust flaky, this time I melted the butter. This is because the melted butter provides a softer tart base that melts in the mouth.
The baking method I followed is the blind baking method. Just as the tart with mushrooms and fennel was baked (recipe for the savory tart here).
Blind baking a pie crust is necessary when it will be filled with an unbaked filling, in which case the crust must be fully baked. It is also called for if the filling has a shorter bake time than the crust, in which case the crust is partly baked. Blind baking is also used to keep pie crust from becoming soggy due to a wet filling. Remember that you have to add some weight to the tart crust in order to retain its shape. Moreover, pierce the crust repeatedly with the tines of a fork to produce small holes, allowing steam to escape and preventing the crust from bubbling up.
HOW TO MAKE THE PERFECT SWISS MERINGUE
If I had to choose my favorite part of this recipe, this would be the Swiss meringue. Swiss meringue is like eating velvet, a cloud of delight. But there are some things you should be aware in order to taste this cloud.
For making Swiss meringue you have to use bain marie. Mix all the ingredients in a ben marie until reaching 70-75 °C. Then, remove the bowl and by using an electric stand mixer, beat until stiff peaks form.
There are two things in which you have to pay extra attention. The first one is the while whisking on the bain marie, check the temperature of the mixture. The mixture should not exceed 75 °C. Keeping our mixture below this temperature, ensures that the egg will be pasteurized, but without being cooked.
Whereas, attention is needed when removing the bowl from the bain marie. Although you will remove it from the steam, the bowl has a high temperature. So, it is best to wrap it with a wet towel or with some ice cubes. If you use a towel, you should wet it with cold water.
After removing for the heat beat immediately in order stiff peaks form. It will take about 5-6 minutes. Here, your meringue is ready to spread it over your tart. You can brown the meringue with a blowtorch or grill the tart until the meringue turns golden brown.
WHY I ADORE THIS HONEY SWISS MERINGUE CITRUS TART
This citrus tart is one of my favorite dishes, savory or sweet. Why? Let me explain you.
- The filling of the tart calls only for egg yolks. And here is the moment you ask yourself “What about the whites? Will I throw them away?”. The Swiss meringue is here for you. By adding the Swiss meringue on top there are no leftovers, since egg whites will be used for making the meringue.
- It’s the perfect tart for those who haven’t a sweet tooth. Its base is neutral, its filling is characterized by citrus spritz, and its meringue comes to sweeten you a little bit. And all this in one bite.
- Last but not least this tart can be an inspirational canvas. You can add in the filling any citrus fruit you want; lemons, tangerines, sanguins, oranges, even limes. So, experiment and add your favorite citrus fruit.
The recipe has been adapted form the book Lomelino’s pies.
Honey Swiss meringue citrus tart
Honey swiss meringue citrus tart
Equipment
- thermometer
- blowtorch
Ingredients
For the crust
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 300 gr butter, melted
For the filling
- 800 sweetened condensed milk
- 5 egg yolks
- 3/4 cup citrus juice (I have used 50-50 lemons and oranges)
- 4 tsp citrus zest (I have used 50-50 lemons and oranges)
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the honey Swiss meringue
- 5 egg whites
- 3/4 cups honey
- 1/2 salt
Instructions
For the dough
- Preheat your oven at 180 °C.
- In a bowl mix the flour with the salt.
- In a small pot, melt the butter and then add it to the mixture. Stir well until the dough coheres.
- Pour the mixture into a tart pan and spread it over with your fingers.
- Prick the bottom and sides with a fork. Cover the tart shell with greaseproof paper and add on it some weight, such as beans, chickpeas.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 180 °C. Remove the weight and the greaseproof paper, and bake for another 10 minutes.
For the filling
- In a bowl mix the sweetened condensed milk with the yolks, the juice, the zest and the salt.
- Pour the mixture into the tart and bake for 15-17 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool.
For the honey Swiss meringue
- In a bowl, which we can turn into a ben marie (so avoid a plastic one), mix sligthly the egg whites, honey and salt.
- Transfer the bowl to a saucepan to which we have added boiling water. Be careful, the bowl should not touch the water. We only want the steam.
- Stir until the temperature of the mixture reaches 75 ° C. It will take about 7 minutes.
- Remove and beat the mixture. To avoid "baking" the meringue, hug the bowl with a wet towel. Wet the towel with cold water. The towel will help to lower the temperature of the mixture.
- Spread the meringue on the tart and brown the meringue with a blowtorch or grill the tart until the meringue turns golden brown.
I will be over the moon if you try to make my honey Swiss meringue citrus tart. It is an easy one, the only thing you have to pay attention is the honey Swiss meringue. Do not let all of these citrus fruits waiting, start baking.
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