Lemon Tarts

Lemon Tarts - by Laura L.

Sour Cream Pastry Dough

2 cups flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter chilled and cut into ¼ inch slices

½ cup sour cream

Put the flour and salt in a 3 quart bowl and stir to blend. Scatter the butter slices over the flour, and cut in with a pastry blender until the mixture consists of particles that vary in size from small peas to bread crumbs. Stir in the sour cream with a fork. The pastry will appear dry because the sour cream is thick and does not disperse easily. With your hands, manipulate dough into a ball. Divide dough in 3 balls. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until cold and firm, about 4 hours and up to 3 days. The dough can be frozen for up to 1 month.

Roll dough on a lightly floured wax paper. Use lightly floured rolling pin. Make the dough quite thin. Not as thin as a tortilla, but thin. Cut dough using a circle cookie cutter slightly bigger than the size of the tart pans (like a muffin pan only much smaller). Cook on 400 for about 12 minutes until lightly brown.

Lemon Curd

Grated rind of 2 lemons

½ cup lemon juice

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter or margarine

6 eggs well beaten (with electric beaters)

Combine lemon rind, lemon juice and sugar in top of double boiler. ( I just boiled water in one sauce pan and placed another saucepan on top of it.) Add butter. Heat over boiling water until butter is melted. Stir in eggs slowly. Continue cooking, stirring constantly until mixture is thick enough to pile slightly, about 15 minutes. Spoon filling into cooled tart shells.