As many of you know, last weekend was Valentine’s Day – a day that I like to refer to as Love Day.  It may sound cheesy, but I like it.  Andre and I decided to make ourselves a fancy dinner, and I was in charge of dessert.  (No surprise.)  Since we’re both fans of fruity desserts, I made these delicious lemon curd tarts.  And, I really wanted to use my new mini tart tin, so it worked out perfectly.  If you’re a fan of tarty desserts, you’ll love the lemon flavour in these tarts.  I had two extra tarts, and decided to make a blueberry coulis, which was a very nice compliment.  I hope you enjoy your mini tarts!!

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I made four mini tarts (4-inch diameter pans) instead one large and topped them with blueberries, but stuck to the recipe otherwise.

For tart shell:
2 tablespoons almonds with skins, toasted and cooled
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
Pinch of fine sea salt
1/2 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg yolk
3 1/2 tablespoons fruity olive oil (preferably French)

For lemon curd:
3 large lemons
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 whole large eggs plus 2 large yolks
1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons fruity olive oil (preferably French)

Directions:

Make tart shell:
Preheat oven to 425°F with rack in middle.

Pulse almonds with flour, sugar, and sea salt to a fine powder in a food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps.

Add yolk and oil and pulse until just incorporated and a very soft dough has formed.

Spread dough evenly over bottom and up side of pan with offset spatula. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

Bake shell until golden brown all over, about 13 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Make curd:
Grate enough zest from lemons to measure 1 tablespoon, then squeeze 3/4 cup juice from lemons.

Whisk together lemon zest and juice, sugar, cornstarch, whole eggs, and yolks in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly. Boil, whisking, 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and whisk in butter and oil until smooth.

Assemble tart:
Pour lemon curd into cooled shell and chill until set, at least 2 hours.

Related posts:

1. Blueberry Lemon Muffins
2. Maple Cream Walnut Tarts
3. Blueberry Coulis