Mango Meringue Tartlets Recipe
Looking for an elegant tartlet recipe? Make Mango Meringue Tartlets! A classic shortbread crust paired with an exotic Mango Curd and toasted Meringue Topping make these beautiful little mini tarts something special.
Ingredients
For the Mango Curd
- 1 large ripe mango peeled, pitted, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1/4-1/2 cup sugar depending on the sweetness of the mango and how tart you want your curd to be
- 3 Tbs fresh lime juice
- Pinch of salt
- 4 large egg yolks
- 4 Tbs unsalted butter cut into small pieces
For the Tart Shells
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 10 Tbsp chilled unsalted butter cut into pieces
- 2 egg yolks lightly beaten
- 1 Tbsp cold water
For the Meringue
- 3 large egg whites
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
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To make the mango curd, puree the mango, sugar, lime juice and salt in a food processor, scraping down the sides as needed until a smooth consistency is reached. Add yolks and puree for another 10-15 seconds. Strain mixture through a mesh sieve into a metal bowl, pressing on solids with the back of a spatula. Discard solids in sieve.
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Set metal bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (do not allow bottom of the bowl to touch the water); whisk puree until thickened and thermometer registers 170°F, about 10 minutes. Remove from over saucepan and gradually whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.
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To make the tart shells, combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse once to mix. Add the butter and pulse until pea-size crumbs form, about 20-30 seconds. Add egg yolks and water and process for another 10-15 seconds or until large, moist crumbs form.
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Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, shape the dough into a ball and divide in half. Flatten each half into a disk, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
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Position a rack in the center of an oven and preheat to 400ºF. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll out to 1/4-inch thickness on a floured surface. Using a 3.5-inch round cookie cutter, cut out 10 rounds. Transfer each round to a 3.5-inch tartlet pan and press the pastry with your fingertips to fit up the sides. Poke with the tines of a fork and bake until the tart shells are evenly golden and crisp, 15-18 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and cool for 5 minutes, then remove the tart shells from the pan and cool to room temperature.
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To make the meringue, place egg whites and sugar in a heatproof mixing bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture registers 160ºF on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and whisk on high speed until mixture is cool and stiff peaks form, about 6 minutes. Beat in vanilla.
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To assemble tarts, spoon mango curd into cooled tart shells and pipe meringue around the edge of tarts using a small star tip fitted to a pastry bag. Torch meringue tops lightly with a culinary blowtorch, if desired.
Recipe Notes
- Taste your mangoes . If they taste bland and boring so your tarts will be so make sure to use good and ripe ones. Use manilla mangoes if you can. Due to their smaller size, you should use 2.
- Mangoes vary in sweetness so start by pureeing the mango and taste your mango puree to determine how much sugar and lemon juice you need.
- You can also taste the filling before you add the butter to make sure you have the right balance.
- Mangoes vary in the amount of liquid. If you have especially juicy mangoes, the curd may take longer to thicken up. My mangoes produced a fairly thick puree. If your filling isn't thickening up, add half tablespoon of cornstarch or some more butter.
- If you do not have a thermoter, make sure to heat the curd long enough so that it really noticeably thickens. It might take up to 15 minutes but the egg yolks will eventually get there.
- A runny curd can be fixed by throwing in some bloomed gelatin and heat it just enough to melt it in. You will need maybe a sheet per quart.