Beyond Our Sky

Gluten-free Lemon Meringue Tarts

I haven’t posted a tart recipe for a while, mainly because I’ve had trouble getting the gluten-free pastry exactly right. My first blogpost (almost 7 years ago now) was actually a strawberry tart recipe.

I have experimented with many gluten-free shortcrust pastry recipes, all with different flour blends and techniques (creaming the butter and sugar together vs. rubbing cold butter into flour). This is the recipe I’ve found works the best. I intially wanted to make it nut-free and egg-free, but couldn’t get the texture quite right. As usual, just some notes for the pastry:

  • You can either make this recipe by hand (rubbing the cold butter into the flour) or using a food processor. I actually use a thermomix.
  • There are quite a few flours involved that are pivotal in providing structure and achieving the right texture and colour. I wouldn’t recommend making any substitutions.
  • The xanthan gum helps give the dough some elasticity, but it can be replaced with 1 tsp of psyllium husk.
  • If the dough seems dry, add a couple tablespoons of cold water if needed.
  • The dough  should be easy to work with and when baked, does not have many cracks. If there are any cracks, I recommend patching it up with any leftover dough and the residual heat from the pastry should cook the dough.
  • This recipe makes quite a lot of tart shells (I made 4 tarts in 8cm fluted tins and 4 small rounded tarts). The lemon filling recipe only makes enough for around 5 fluted tarts. I recommend freezing any leftover shortcrust pastry.

The lemon filling was quite tart and almost too lemony. So I have adjusted the recipe accordingly to make it less lemony. The filling is also baked, which I find allows it to set better and provide a better texture.

The meringue, similar to my Baked Alaska recipe, is a swiss meringue that consists of heating the egg whites and sugar over a double-boiler. I toasted the meringue with a blow torch. If you do not have a blow torch, you can simply place it in the oven at the highest temperature for 3-5 minutes.

I hope you enjoy the recipe, and let me know if you have any questions!

 

Gluten-free Lemon Meringue Tarts

Ingredients

Shortcrust Pastry

  • 90g brown rice flour
  • 90g sorghum flour
  • 60g almond meal
  • 50g tapioca flour
  • 90g icing sugar
  • 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
  • 125g unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1cm cubes
  • 1 egg, lightly whisked

Lemon Filling

  • 120ml lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
  • Zest of 1 lemons
  • 100ml water
  • 30g cornflour
  • 130g caster sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 30g unsalted butter, roughly diced

Swiss Meringue

  • 120g egg whites (about 4 eggs)
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Shortcrust Pastry

  1. Combine the brown rice flour, sorghum flour, almond meal, tapioca flour, icing sugar and xanthan gum in a medium bowl or bowl of a food processor. Add the cubed butter and either rub in using your fingertips or, if using a food processor, pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg, and mix or process until a soft dough forms. If the dough seems dry and is not coming together, add some cold water a tablespoon at a time).
  2. Tip the dough out onto a piece of cling film, and flatten it into a disc. Wrap the dough tightly in cling film and chill in fridge for at least 1 hour (the dough can be kept refrigerated for up to 3 days).
  3. Remove the pastry from the fridge. For indivudal tarts, roll a small portion of dough between two sheets of baking paper until large enough to line a 8cm loose-based tart tin. Lift pastry into greased tin; press into side, trim edge. Cover, freeze pastry for 15-30 minutes. Repeat for the remaining portions of dough.
  4. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Cover the pastry with baking paper, fill with dried beans or rice. Blind bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown on the edges. Remove paper and beans, and bake for a further 3-5 minutes until browned on the bottom.
  5. Allow to cool for 15 minutes in the tins, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely. Set aside until ready to assemble.

Lemon Filling

  1. In a medium saucepan, combine the lemon juice, lemon zest, water, cornflour and caster sugar. Whisk continously over medium-low heat, and bring to a very gentle simmer.
  2. Add the egg yolks and butter, and whisk until well-combined. Bring the mixture to a boil and continue stiring until it thickens, about 2 minutes.
  3. Remove from the heat and allow the filling to cool at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190°C.
  4. Pour the lemon filling into the pastry cases. Bake for 5 minutes, then allow to cool in the fridge completely.

Swiss Meringue

  1. In a heatproof bowl, add the egg whites and sugar. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water, ensuring the bottom doesn’t touch the water. Whisk the mixture constantly until the sugar has dissolved. Test by rubbing the mixture between your fingers and you should feel no granules of sugar.
  2. Remove from the heat and place the bowl onto your stand mixture. Whip for about 5-10 minutes until stiff peaks form. Towards the end, add the vanilla extract.
  3. Pipe or spread the meringue onto the tarts. Toast the meringue using a blow torch until lightly brown, or place in a preheated oven at 240°C for 2-5 minutes.