Lemon Meringue Tartlets

This recipe will create ten small tartlets. Tangy, sweet, and refreshing. Perfect for warm summer days or when you're craving a citrusy treat.

Servings: 10 tartlets

Mix flour, icing sugar, cornstarch and salt in a standmixer bowl or in a normal bowl if you want to do it by hand.
With the paddle attachment on the KitchenAid slowly mix everything together on low speed (Speed 1).
Cut the cold butter into cubes and put them in the mixing bowl all at once.
Mix on slow speed (KA 1) for about 20 seconds and then speed it up a bit (Speed 4).
Mix until the dough has a wet sand like texture after around 3 minutes
Pour in the cold water and mix until the dough comes together for another 2 minutes.
Put the dough onto a working surface and push with the palm of your hand the dough away from you onto the counter top. Collect the dough again and repeat this process for 1 minute.
This technique is called fraisage in french patisserie. It helps create a uniform and delicate tart shell without overworking the dough.
Put the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper, flatten it to 5 mm and chill it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

After the dough has been chilled you can continue with rolling out to around 3 mm thickness. Use some flour because the dough may stick.
Preheat the oven to 160 ℃ top bottom heat.
I am using tartlet rings with 8 cm diameter.
I recommend using a 11 cm diameter cookie cutter to cut out circles from the dough
After you cut out a circle carefully pick it up with your hands and place it on top of a tartlet ring. While rotating you push down the dough into the ring little by little.
When the dough has reached the bottom corner of the metal tartlet ring you can cut of the excess with a sharp knife.
Repeat this process for all of the remaining tartlets.
Put the tartlets onto the baking rack with a perforated silicone mat if you have one.
Bake the tartlets for around 20 minutes.
Let them cool down completely.

Put the sugar into a sauce pan.
Zest 3 lemons completely into the sugar.
Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your hands to release the essential oils.
Juice the lemons and mix the juice into the saucepan together with 90 grams of the plant milk.
Bring it to a simmer.
In the meantime prepare a slurry made of the second part of the milk and cornstarch. Make sure there a no clumps in the slurry.
Pour the slurry into the simmering liquid, while constantly whisking.
Cook the custard for around 2 minutes.
Take the custard of the heat and stir in the vegan butter.
Fill the custard into the tart shells and immediately cover with cling film. You can use a piping bag for easier filling of the tartlets.
Let them cool at room temperature, then in the fridge.

Pour the reduced aquafaba into a bowl of your standmixer.
Add in the citric acid.
In a small pot heat water and sugar until it reaches 118 °C. For this step you will need a digital thermometer, without its nearly impossible to reach the exact temperature and therefore the right sugar crystal structure.
In the meantime whip the aquafaba on medium speed for 3 minutes (Speed 6).
While constantly whisking drizzle in the sugar syrup onto the side of the bowl.
Stop whisking when the meringue is back to room temperature.
If everything went correct you should be left with a stable italian meringue.
Fill it into a piping bag and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.