Lemon Curd Tarts

By Angie Hall

Tart Dough

• 8 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3 teaspoons milk

Mix butter and sugar with a hand mixer, Bosch or stand mixer, til combined. Add egg yolks and mix til incorporated. Add half of the flour at a time mixing just til combined. Do not over mix. ( You can refrigerate at this point.)
To make tarts:
I use a mini muffin pan and a tart shaper. ( made by Pampered Chef, but you could just use your thumb for the indentations) Scoop about two teaspoons of tart dough and shape into a ball. Place in mini muffin pan. Make an indentation with tart shaper or your thumb. Fill each muffin cup this way. Bake for 8-12 minutes til barely golden. Remove from pan and cool completely before filling. These will store for several days in an airtight container.

Lemon Curd

• 8 large egg yolks
• Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 sticks (10 tablespoons) butter, cold, cut into pieces

Combine yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar in a heavy-bottom saucepan; whisk to combine. Cook over medium -high heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon ( be sure to scrape the sides of the pan), until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, 8 to 10 minutes, and registers 160* on an instant-read thermometer. (I use a meat thermometer)
Remove saucepan from heat. Add butter, one piece at a time, stirring until smooth. Strain through a fine sieve into a medium bowl. (Do not skip this step!) Cover with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled and set, at least one hour or up to 1 day. ( It does keep longer, about 5 days)

When ready to serve tarts, put about 1 teaspoon of lemon curd into tart shell and top with blueberries, raspberries or strawberries. Don't make to far in advance or they get soggy. Enjoy!
The tart dough and lemon curd recipes were taken from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook with a few slight alterations. I just can't seem to follow a recipe the way it's written!

Poppy Seed Dressing

• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 TBSP. onion
• 1/4 -1/3 tsp. mustard powder
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup oil
• 1 TBSP. poppy seeds

In a blender put vinegar, sugar, onion, mustard powder and salt. Blend together at high speed. Turn blender to medium speed, while blender is running add oil in a continuous stream until emulsified. Turn off blender, add poppy seeds. Blend til just mixed in.

This is the dressing from the RS Christmas party. The salad was Spring Mix, dried cranberries, feta cheese, and pecans. You can also use spinach or a combination of the two.

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

• 1 c. mayo
• 1 c. buttermilk
• 2 TBSP. green onion tops or chives
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
  
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. dried parsley

Whisk all ingredients together. Makes 2 cups

To make a Mexican flavored dressing add chili powder, cumin and/or coriander and cilantro or taco seasoning.

To make a more Italian flavor add half a clove of pressed garlic and Italian seasoning and/or basil.