This is what I wanted for my birthday this year

Traditionally it should have been a cake with cream and candles (more than I care to count), but this year I opted for a lemon meringue tart. And not just any lemon tart. Over the years I've tried numerous recipes but have always returned to this one. My favourite, by far...

I hope you'll like it too :-)

As you can see, my birthday was close to Easter this year - thus the chocolate eggs in the decoration. I tested tempering the chocolate myself, but the conclusion was simply that more practice will be needed on that front. I'll probably come back to it at some later date.

Minna's favourite lemon tart

Base :
250g flour
40g (icing)sugar
175g cold butter in cubes
1 egg yolk
2-4 tbsp cold water

Filling :
3 dl water
1 dl sugar
zest and juice of 2 lemons
4 tbsp Maizena
3-4 egg yolks
20g butter

Meringues : all the spare eggwhites + 2 dl sugar

Rub the flour, sugar and butter into a sandy texture. Add the egg yolk and enough water to quickly form a pastry. Cover in clingfilm and put to the fridge for 15min.

Roll the pastry, fill the tart case (24cm diameter) and put back to fridge for 15min more. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius.

Put the tart case into the oven for 10-15 minutes until it is slightly browned. Leave to cool.

Make the filling. Mix water, sugar, lemon and Maizena into a casserole. Put on a medium heat and stir all the time with a wooden spoon. Once the mixture thickens, let it still cook for a couple of minutes. Take off the heat and quickly whisk in the egg yolks one by one then the butter in cubes. Leave to cool.

Increase the heat of the oven to 250. Spread the filling on the cooled tart base. Whisk the egg whites with the sugar until they form stiff peaks.  Use the piping bag or two spoons to spread the meringue on the tart. Put it to the oven and keep an eye on it for a few minutes, until the meringue is nicely browned.

Decorate the cooled lemon meringue tart as you wish and enjoy.

Salted liquorice meringues - anyone ?

Some time ago we made a cake with the boys.  You know, marzipan butterflies, glitter and all. To change from the normal cream and jam filling, we actually filled it with lemon curd chantilly and salted liquorice. So delicious.

To those who love the salted liquorice I mean. The taste for it seems to be somewhat Finnish. I don't think I know anyone non Finnish who enjoys the black sweets. At least the Husband seems to have some kind of a gagging reaction just by the sight of them.

Anyways, as we had both the egg whites and the salted liquorice leftovers, I decided to make some meringues with black spots.

Nothing is easier to make than meringues. I know, everybody thinks they are difficult, but really - it's just patience you need - and of course a clean bowl, whisk, sugar and eggwhites with no traces of yolk in them. Not being of the patient kind myself, I actually succeeded in making meringues only after I got the kitchen mixer. Now I can just forget it on for a while and do other things.

Minimeringues with salted liquorice

Put the egg whites (3 in this case) to the mixer bowl, install the whisk and put the machine on for a few minutes. You can add a couple of drops of lemon or lime juice if you want. Helps the whites to foam. Empty the dishwasher to keep you occupied.

Add sugar (2-3 dl) and put the machine on. Put the oven on (130 celsius - no fan) Fill the dishwasher with everything in the sink and lying around in the kitchen. Check on the kids (shout from the kitchen - not a good idea to leave the machine alone). When the egg whites have formed stiff peaks the meringue is ready.

You can mix the salted liquorice (Turkish pepper crush here) to the eggwhites now - or just sprinkle it on them before putting them to the oven. You decide.

Use a piping bag or two spoons to get the meringues in the form you want. Put them to the oven and leave for about 30min. Turn the oven off and leave the meringues in to dry for the night.