Big Girl/Small City

I know i haven’t posted in a LONG time, but i needed to share a recipe that has been a hit over the holidays:

Cream cheese lemon tarts:

For shell:
Blend 3 oz cream cheese with1/2 c butter. Add flour. Combine until just blended. Chill for at least 1 hr and up to 24 hrs.

Preheat oven to 325.

Break dough into twelve balls for large tarts or 24 balls for mini tarts. Shape into tin mold to make shell. Bake for twenty- ish minutes for mini tarts and about thirty-ish minutes for muffin tin size. They should be golden when you remove them from oven.

For lemon filling:
Use a double boiler. While you wait for the water in the pot to boil, mix 2 large eggs and 2 egg yolks as well as 3/4 cups (or more if you prefer) sugar in a bowl.

Fill a measuring cup with 1/2 c lemon juice. Cut 3 oz butter into six chunks.

Place your bowl over the water and set your timer for ten minutes. Whisk. At the 8 min mark add a third of the juice. Whisk. At 6 min add the next third. Whisk. At 4 min add the last third of juice. Whisk. At two minute mark you may find it has thickened up. If not, continue to whisk the additional 2 mins.

Turn the burner off. Add a chunk of butter and whisk until melted in. Continue untill all chunks of butter have been incorporated. Pour warm custard into tart shells. Let sit at room temp until set (maybe 45 min).

Enjoy! Happy new year!

Lemon macarons:

So i have a great recipe to share that i’ve molded from a few. It makes twelve lemon cookies. I used trader joe’s lemon curd for filling. It is yummy, but i think i prefer buttercream or ganache as i am a sweet tooth.

1 1/2 c icing sug
2/3 c almond flour
3 aged eggs room temp
3 tbsp white sug
3 pinches cream of tartar
Rind of 1 lemon (make sure it is unwaxed by using a fruit and veggie wash)

Line two pans with parchment. Whisk together icing sug and almonds in bowl. In you standing mixer (or handheld, i’m just lazy) beat the egg whites until they are almost opaque and fluffed. Gradually add the white suger. Gradually add tartar. Beat until white and glossy and stiff. Add lemon zest and yellow food coloring here. Mix on lowest speed til even in color or stir with spatula. Add the icing/almond mixture in fourths while on the very lowest speed, just until incorporated.

Pipe onto parchment (about a 2 inch diam.). Let sit at least 45 and up to an hour. Preheat oven to 325.

When they are done resting pop them in the oven and turn temp to 300. After 4 min rotate and bake another 5 min. Once out of the oven, carefully slide the parchment onto counter, so the bottoms don’t continue to bake as they cool. Once cool (about 20 min-ish) fill with the curd - or like i said a yummy buttercream.

Feel free to ask me q’s or send me hints. I am still on the search for the best macaron recipe ever!