Raspberry Meringue Earl Grey Shortbread Tartlets

I am more into making treats for Valentine’s Day than celebrating it. After all nothing say “I love you!” better than homemade treats.

I’ve already done some adorable mini donuts for the kids and a strawberry pie for our dinner last night. I used cookie cutters to cut out letters “Be mine”, and I ate it with my husband, my son and my daughter who happen to be all mine. All my Valentines.

 

These tartlets require a little more work – the shortbread crust, the raspberry filling and the meringue. But they are crazily delicious. Picture this: a buttery crumbly Earl Grey shortbread crust, filled with silky and smooth raspberry curd filling and topped with toasted meringue. Every bite of the buttery cookie and the tart raspberry filling is simply divine.

You could line the mini crust doughs in a muffin pan like I did with the lemon meringue tartlets before, and they will look as adorable. You can also make one big tart to share with your group of friends or family. What you need to do is to bake the tart shell 8 to 10 minutes longer for a 9-inch tart.

Ingredients (12 tartlets):
Earl Grey Shortbread Crust
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Earl Grey tea leaves
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Raspberry Curd
3 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
1/2 cup granulated  sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
2 egg yolks
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
Meringue
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large egg whites
1 tablespoon water

Directions:
To prepare crust, sift the flour and salt in a large bowl. Mix in tea leaves. Set aside.
Cream butter and powdered sugar in a bowl of a standing mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla.
Reduce the speed to low and beat in the flour mixture until just incorporated.
Gather dough and form a dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes to chill.
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 12 tartlets pans or a regular-sized muffin pan.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into 5-inch rounds. Line the prepared pans with the dough circles. Use a small kitchen knife to trim the excess and to score the tops of the tartlets.
Place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes before baking for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly golden.
Remove from oven and let the tart shells cool a few minutes before inverting and transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
To prepare raspberry curd, combine raspberries, sugar, lemon juice and water in a pan and cook over medium-high heat. Bring mixture to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Place in a blender to process until smooth. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan and discard solids.
Mix egg yolks and cornstarch until smooth. Add to the raspberry mixture and cook over low heat while stirring constantly for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in butter and salt until smooth. Let cool for 15 minutes.
Spoon the raspberry curd into the cooled shortbread tartlet crusts, and place them in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour.
To prepare meringue, in a large heatproof bowl, combine sugar and egg whites. Using a handheld electric mixer, beat on high speed until foamy for 1 minute. Set bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Beat on high speed until the mixture is hot to touch and sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, stir in water, and continue whipping for another 10 minutes until stiff and glossy peaks form.
Transfer meringue to a piping bag attached to a large round tip. Pipe meringue on each tartlet. Use a kitchen torch to lightly brown the frosting.
Keep the tartlets in the refrigerator. Serve in the same day.

6 comments

  1. In your directions for the shortbread dough you said to gather dough and form a dish, did you mean disk? If not, what do you mean by dish?

  2. I made this delicious treat for Valentines Day! I only had 1 – 9 inch tart pan and adjusted the cooking time as specified and it turned out great. My date thought the flavors of earl grey and raspberries were unique and perfect together. The only thing I didn’t do (because I do not own a strainer) is remove the raspberry seeds. They were not a bother to us in the curd. Thank you for sharing the recipe! Its going in my recipe box!

    1. I am so happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe, Lauren! And it’s great that your date liked it too. Normally I am not a “strainer” (seeds are supposed to be good for you, right?!), but for some reason I did. But it’s good to know that it worked just fine without straining the curd. YAY! :)

    1. Thanks, Heather! These tartlets were really delicious. The combination of buttery shortbread and the tangy raspberry curd was simply divine. I don’t really enjoy overly sweet desserts, and so I just used a little amount of sugar to achieve the right sweetness. :)

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