Raspberry Lemon Meringue Tart Food

RASPBERRY LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Press pie crust into a 9-inch pie pan. Brush crust with enough egg white to coat with a thin layer.
• Cook in the preheated oven until golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove crust from oven and cool. Decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Cook and stir raspberries in a saucepan over medium heat until raspberries start to break down, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir 1 tablespoon cornstarch into raspberries until cornstarch is dissolved and mixture is thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Spoon raspberry mixture into pie crust.
• Combine 1 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup cornstarch in a saucepan; gradually stir in water and 1/2 cup lemon juice until smooth. Stir egg yolks into sugar mixture; bring to a boil. Cook sugar-egg mixture at a boil, stirring constantly, until smooth, about 1 minute. Remove saucepan from heat. Stir lemon pulp, remaining 1/4 cup lemon juice, and butter into sugar-egg mixture; pour over raspberry mixture.
• Beat 3 egg whites in a small bowl using an electric mixer on high speed until foamy. Gradually beat 1/3 cup white sugar into egg whites until stiff peaks form. Spread egg white mixture over lemon filling, completely sealing egg mixture onto edges of crust.
• Bake in the preheated oven until meringue is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool pie to room temperature on a wire rack, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate pie until completely chilled, about 3 hours.

LEMON RASPBERRY TARTS

Steps:

• For the curd: Whisk together the sugar and eggs in a heatproof bowl until the sugar is completely dissolved. Reserve 1 teaspoon of the lemon zest for garnish, then stir the lemon juice and remaining zest into the sugar-egg mixture. Put the bowl over a double boiler and cook, whisking, until the mixture thickens, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. Scrape into a clean bowl and press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the curd. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• For the raspberry sauce: Reserve 12 raspberries for garnish and put the rest into a small pan. Add the sugar and cook over medium-low heat, breaking up the raspberries to release their juices. Do not let boil. Strain the juice into a bowl and let cool; discard the solids.
• For the tarts: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Put the phyllo shells on a baking sheet and bake until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the shells to a rack to cool.
• To assemble the tarts: Spoon a small amount of the raspberry sauce into each tart shell. Whisk the cream with a spoonful or 2 of the raspberry sauce and a splash of vanilla. Fill each shell with the lemon curd and then top with a dollop of whipped cream and a whole raspberry. Sprinkle with some of the reserved lemon zest and add a mint leaf.

CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY MERINGUE TART

Steps:

• Make the tart dough: Place the flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until a coarse meal forms. Add egg and pulse just until a crumbly dough comes together. If the dough seems dry, drizzle in a teaspoon or two of water. Press dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight (or up to 5 days).
• Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to 3/8-inch thickness (about an 11-inch round). Place dough into a 9-inch tart pan, folding the extra dough in over the edges to build up the sides. Prick bottom of dough all over with a fork; chill in freezer for at least 30 minutes and up to 48 hours. (Cover lightly with plastic wrap if freezing for more than a couple of hours.)
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line the tart crust with foil, and fill with baking weights or dried rice or beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove foil and weights and continue to bake until shell is light golden, another 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
• Prepare the filling: In a medium saucepan, combine raspberries and sugar over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until berries break down, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove pan from heat, stir in lemon juice and use a fork or wooden spoon to mash raspberries to a purée.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks and egg. Slowly add 1/4 cup of hot raspberry purée to egg mixture, whisking constantly. Slowly drizzle the egg-raspberry mixture back into the saucepan with remaining purée, whisking constantly to keep eggs from cooking. Turn the heat to medium-low, and add butter and a pinch of salt to the pan. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens enough to coat a spoon, about 7 to 9 minutes.
• Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing hard on the solids, into a bowl. Allow to stand for 5 minutes, then whisk briefly to smooth.
• Pour raspberry filling into the tart shell. Bake until filling is set (it should jiggle only slightly in the center), about 14 to 22 minutes. Remove tart from oven and increase oven temperature to 400 degrees.
• Start preparing the meringue: Using a blender or food processor, blend the freeze-dried raspberries until you get a fine powder speckled with seeds. (The seeds won't break down so don't even try.) Set aside 1 tablespoon of raspberry powder for garnish. Combine cocoa powder with remaining raspberry powder to use for the meringue.
• Place chocolate in heatproof bowl, and melt in microwave in 10-second intervals, stirring after each, until smooth. Set aside. (Or you can melt the chocolate in a pot on the stove over low heat, stirring constantly.)
• Fill a medium pot with 1 inch of water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. In a large metal bowl, whisk together egg whites, sugar, cream of tartar and salt. Set the mixing bowl with the egg white mixture into the pot above the water, and whisk constantly by hand until sugar dissolves and mixture is warm (160 degrees on an instant thermometer) and has thickened and lightened in color, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium-low speed and gradually increase speed to high, until mixture is thick and fluffy, and stiff peaks form, about 5 to 8 minutes. Be careful not to overbeat.
• Sprinkle raspberry-cocoa mixture on top of meringue. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in mixture 2 to 3 times to halfway incorporate, but remains very streaky. (Do not overmix.) Drizzle melted chocolate into meringue and gently fold until just combined and still streaky. Take care not to deflate the meringue very much. (It will deflate somewhat.)
• Spread the meringue over the hot filling, making sure it meets the edges of the crust. Using a knife or spatula, swirl in a design. Bake until lightly browned, about 7 to 10 minutes.
• Allow to cool completely and sprinkle the top with a little of the reserved raspberry powder. (Save the extra to perk up oatmeal, smoothies and peanut butter sandwiches.)