{From left, Jilly’s Cupcake Bar & Cafe’s Dana Holland, The Sweet Divine’s Jason and Jenna Siebert, Sauce executive editor Ligaya Figueras, Made. by Lia’s Lia Weber, River City Casino’s Stephen Schubert and Jilly’s Casey Schiller}
During the photo shoot for the October 2014 letter from the editor, Sauce executive editor took cover as the crew of award-winning St. Louis pastry chefs turned their cake into a fierce – but friendly – food fight. Among those pastry chefs was Lia Weber, who recently won TLC’s Next Great Baker along with Wedding Wonderland’s Al Watson. Weber, who launched her own specialty dessert company Made. by Lia, gave us the recipe for her Lemon Meringue Tart, a dessert that prompted high praise from Next Great Baker judges and cravings here at home.
Lemon Meringue Tart Courtesy of Made. by Lia’s Lia Weber Makes 12 4-inch tarts or 2 8-inch tarts
2 2/3 cups pastry flour
1 cup plus 3½ Tbsp. powdered sugar, divided
1 cup (2 sticks) plus 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
Half a vanilla bean
5 eggs, divided
Zest and juice of 4 lemons
1¾ cup plus 2¼ Tbsp. granulated sugar
4 egg whites
2 Tbsp. corn syrup
3 Tbsp. water
Special equipment: candy/deep fry thermometer
• In a large mixing bowl, sift together the pastry flour and ¼ cup plus 2½ tablespoons powdered sugar. Set aside.
• In a the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream 1 cup butter on medium speed until smooth, about 3 to 5 minutes, then add the remaining ¾ cup plus 1 tablespoon powdered sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Split the vanilla bean in half, scrape the seeds into the bowl and beat them into the butter-sugar mixture on medium speed. Reduce the speed to low and add the flour mixture and 1 egg until the ingredients are just combined, about 1 minute. Do not over mix.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead a few times to bring it together. Roll the dough into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic and refrigerate 30 minutes until chilled.
• Meanwhile, prepare an ice water bath. Fill a medium saucepot with a few inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add the lemon zest and juice, ¾ cup plus 2¼ tablespoons granulated sugar and the remaining 4 eggs in a large metal mixing bowl. Place the bowl over the simmer water to create a double boiler and whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 170 degrees, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the remaining 6 tablespoons softened butter. Place the bowl in the ice water bath until cool, then refrigerate until needed.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Roll out the tart dough onto a lightly floured surface to ¼-inch thickness. Four 4-inch tarts, cut out 12 5- to 6-inch circles or for 8-inch tarts, cut out 2 9- to 10-inch circles. Gently press the rounds into the tart pans and refrigerate 5 minutes.
• Bake the tart shells about 10 minutes until golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack.
• Meanwhile, place the egg whites and a pinch of granulated sugar into a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium-low speed until slightly frothy, 3 to 5 minutes.
• In a medium saucepan, mix together slightly less than 1 cup granulated sugar, the corn syrup and water over medium-low heat. Bring the sugar mixture to 248 degrees, then remove from heat. With the mixer on medium-low speed, carefully pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites. When all the syrup is added, whip the egg whites on medium-high until the meringue is cool and stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.
• To assemble the tarts, gently remove the shells from the tart pans. Divide the chilled lemon curd evenly between the tart shells, smoothing the top with a rubber spatula. Place the meringue in a pastry bag and pipe it on top of the tarts or gently spread the meringue on top of the tarts with a rubber spatula for a more rustic look. The tarts can be eaten as is, or brulee the meringue with a pastry torch or under a broiler about 1 minute until golden.
-letter from the editor photo by Jonathan Gayman
This article appears in October 2014.