Sometimes life just calls for a little sweet treat. Especially when that sweet treat involves luscious lemon curd and pillows of meringue. aka. Mini lemon meringue pies. A few weeks ago, we had friends around for a BBQ lunch, which is always a ‘trigger’ for me to indulge in a little baking. On this occasion, I decided to experiment with making mini lemon meringue tarts, something that may feature at a certain little one’s party in a few weeks time. I cheated and used frozen shortcrust pastry, but that ended up being a mistake. The tart shells were not delicate like shortcrust pastry should be. Rather, they were almost chewy? I did, however, make the lemon curd from scratch and it was rather divine. Eggs, sugar, butter, lemon – heated and whisked until thick – Spooned into the pre-made tarts, then topped with a swirl of meringue. It was about now, that I wished I had a kitchen blow torch to brown the meringue without having to put them back into the oven. But alas, I do not (soon to be rectified), so I put the meringues into the oven for 5 minutes or so to give the tops a little colour (but not too much). The result? Adorable little tarts, albeit a tad ‘rustic’ in their appearance. I really enjoyed the meringue and lemon curd elements, but the pastry was just not right. Nonetheless, they were gobbled up by our guests and I am only too happy to experiment with another batch. A work in progress! What about you? Are you a fan of lemon meringue? I would have to say that it is a bit of a family favourite in the BBB household!