Ridiculously Easy Lemon Curd Tarts

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Spray two 12-cup mini muffin pans (or one 24-cup mini muffin pan) with baking spray. Rub each cup with a piece of paper toweling to make sure they’re thoroughly coated, including the top edges.

Step 2

Place the soft butter and powdered sugar in a medium-size bowl and stir until smooth and creamy. Add the vanilla and stir to combine. Sprinkle in the corn starch and stir until nice and smooth.

Step 3

Add the flour and salt and stir, turning the bowl with and stirring from the bottom up. At first the dough will be very shaggy and dry, but after a minute or so it will come together nicely. Just keep stirring until all of the flour is incorporated and the dough comes together in a big clump.

Step 4

Divide the dough into 24 equal portions. You can eyeball this or use a digital scale. I weigh the dough then divide by It usually comes out to 25-26g each. Give each portion of dough a little squeeze and hold it in your hand for about 10 seconds (to compress and warm the dough a bit) then roll it between your palms into round balls.

Step 5

Place each ball into one of the prepared mini muffin cups and flatten each one gently with your fingers. Using a ½ teaspoon measuring spoon (see the pictures above in the post), make an indention in the center of each flattened ball. (I like to do about 3 at a time: squeeze 3 portions, roll them into balls then make the wells. This keeps the dough from drying out and cracking when you make the little wells.) If the dough cracks at the edges, just push it together with your fingers while the spoon is still in the center.

Step 6

Place the pan(s) in the preheated oven and bake for 18-24 minutes or until the outer edges of each tart are a medium golden brown. (Don't worry the pretty "well" that you made before baking will have puffed up a bit.)

Step 7

Remove the pan(s) from the oven and immediately reinforce the center wells by gently pushing in again with the ½ teaspoon measuring spoon. You can make the wells as shallow or deep as you’d like at this point.

Step 8

Allow the tart shells to cool in the pan for 10 minutes then remove by inserting a small sharp knife into the center of each shell and pulling upward. Cool completely on a cooling rack before filling.

Step 9

Using a spoon fill each well with 1-1 ½ teaspoons of lemon curd. You can also put the lemon curd in a medium-size zip lock back or a disposable pastry bag, snip of a tiny piece at the corner of the ziplock bag or tip of the pastry bag and pipe in the filling. Garnish with a mint sprig or a small edible flower, if desired. If desired, use a fine mesh small sieve to give each tart a shower of powdered sugar.