The lemon tart

Is a sweet tart lined with lemon-based cream. The cream is a mixture of eggs, sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest, also called lemon curd.
The lemon tart is often supplemented with a meringue and then becomes a meringue lemon pie.
Meringue is a very light and very fine pastry made up solely of a mixture of egg whites and sugar.

Lemon-meringue pie, made with lemon curd and topped with meringue, has been a popular dessert in Britain and the United States since the nineteenth century.

The lemon pie was served to the king at the beginning of the 19th century. It was a symbol of wealth and goodness.

Lemon curd

Is a dessert spread and topping usually made with lemon. The basic ingredients are beaten egg yolks, sugar, fruit juice, and zest, which are gently cooked together until thick and then allowed to cool, forming a soft, smooth, intensely flavoured spread.

In late 19th and early 20th century England, home-made lemon curd was traditionally served with bread or scones at afternoon tea as an alternative to jam, and as a filling for cakes, small pastries, and tarts. Homemade lemon curd was usually made in relatively small amounts as it did not keep well.

In more modern times, larger quantities became possible because of the use of refrigeration. Commercially manufactured lemon curd often contain additional preservatives and thickening agents.

Contemporary commercially made lemon curd remain a popular spread for bread, scones, toast, waffles, pancakes, cheesecake or muffins. They can also be used as a flavoring for desserts or yoghurt.

Meringue

Meringue uses the ability of egg white to enclose air bubbles in a protein network (overgrowth). The sugar dose is about 40 to 100 grams per egg white assuming a white of an average weight of 30 g and knowing that a white can dissolve only up to 50 g of sugar.

The crunchy consistency of the meringue makes it a full - fledged pastry intended mainly to be consumed as it is but also in the preparation of pastries composed for example of filling in whole form or in small pieces, adding thus its crusty very special to another one, other pastries.

Meringues can be presented coupled back to back with a whipped cream or ice cream in between. Normally white, they can easily be colored to create for example color contrasts with other ingredients of a compound pastry. They are rather neutral in taste, and are also good for flavoring, most classically cocoa, vanilla, coconut, lemon and decorated with sharp almonds.

They can be kept two weeks in optimal conditions and up to three months in the freezer but always dry.

There are three different modes of preparation suitable for different uses:

French Meringue

French meringue is the easiest to make. It is realized by beating egg whites with semolina sugar.
The whites are beaten alone and when they are well foamed, the sugar is then incorporated while continuing to beat until it is firm.

For very white meringues, the cooking is done at low temperature. The preparation is placed in the oven at 85 ° -90 ° C. for about one minute for small meringues with a soft core and up to several hours for a more crunchy preparation and especially for large pieces.
For meringues that are golden and more tasty, the meringues are sealed in a hot oven at a temperature of 100 ° C maximum for about twenty minutes and then lowered around 80 ° C for a period of up to two and a half hours depending on the weight of the product.

Swiss Meringue

The Swiss meringue is made by raising egg whites in snow with icing sugar on a bain-marie.
The whites are first beaten alone in a bain-marie and then, when the preparation becomes foamy, the icing sugar is incorporated by continuing to beat. When the mixture assumes consistency, the threshing is finalized out of the fire.
It is cooked about fifteen minutes in oven warmer than for French meringue, around 130 ° C.
Its consistency very firm and less friable than the French preparation makes it possible to use it in the making of decors. The subjects are formed on a plate before firing.
The shelf life can be up to three weeks in good condition.

Italian Meringue

Italian meringue is accomplished by raising egg whites in snow with cooked sugar. The final meringue itself does not cook. Contrary to what its name suggests, it is typically derived from French pastry.
Preheat the sugar (~ 115 ° C). Beat the whites until they foam and then pour the sugar, continuing to beat, until the apparatus takes up in tight foam.
The finished appearance is shiny and compact but very light.
It serves to lighten other preparations such as mousses, bellows, pastry cream. It is used as a chemisage for other pastries such as tarts, meringue entremets or Norwegian omelette. It is also the basic principle of making marshmallows.
For a more appetizing appearance it can be briefly gilded with salamander, torch or firebrand. It can not be stored for more than one hour in dry conditions.

Here a link to try the recipe, enjoy !

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/15093/grandmas-lemon-meringue-pie/

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