Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Lemon Curd Tassie Cups


I love tart-yet-sweet-treats that make your mouth pucker. A few weeks ago while watching Paula Deen on the Food Network, I was amazed at the look of her creation: mini pastry cups filled with a tart lemon curd. So, I whipped up a batch the next day at The Pomegranate Inn, and now, a few weeks later, I am ready to post my own recipe for these delicious treats.

I've added a bit more pucker to the curd and sweetened up the tassie cup just a little bit... Enjoy!!!


24 cups (12 servings)
15 minutes prep time
60 minutes inactive time
10 minutes cook time

Ingredients
Tassie Cups
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Lemon Curd
4 large lemons, zested & juiced
1/8 cup bottled or fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted

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1. Place all ingredients for the tassie cups into food processor and process on low until a single pastry ball forms. Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap, press into a disk, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3. Using 2 ungreased 12-cup mini-muffin pans, divide pastry into 24 even balls, and press into the bottom and sides of each cup. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned. Cool and remove from pans.

4. Heat a large sauce pan filled about a 1/3 of the way with water until it is boiling. Reduce to a simmer. Meanwhile...

5. In food processor, place lemon zest and sugar and process until well combined. Add the squeezed lemon juice, the fresh or bottle lemon juice, lemon extract, and eggs to the sugar mixture and process till smooth. Slowly add the butter through the feed tube until well combined.

6. Place mixture in a metal bowl and place over the simmering water creating a double boiler. Whisk the mixture until and the sugar has dissolved and the mixture has thickened; about 5-10 minutes.

7. Spoon the warm lemon curd into each tassie cup. Cool and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Don't throw away any extra lemon curd... eat it by the spoonful yourself!

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Quick & Dirty Tips
If you are in a rush while making the curd, whisk in the double boiler until the mixture does not seem to thicken anymore. Transfer the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice. Continue to whisk mixture to cool it and it should thicken a great deal more.

When panning up the tassie cups, really press the pastry onto the sides of the muffin tin. It may seem very thin, but it expends a great deal while cooking.


If you want the powdered sugar, wait for everything to cool down... otherwise, it just melts!

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