Shortbread Tarts With Meringue Filling - Корзиночки с Белковым Кремом

These beautiful treats remind me of dressed up little ladies, all ready for a party. The only difference is they are so simple to prepare, unlike the hours of primping in front of the mirror for the ladies and the room left in shambles after trying on different outfits.

The tarts have such an unbelievable sandy, melt in your mouth texture. I am a firm believer that shortbread should still have lots of flavor and have a pleasant texture. Paired with a tart raspberry jam, a glossy and fluffy meringue filling and garnished with fresh berries, each scrumptious bite is perfect. 

Tarts:

2 ½ sticks of butter (20 Tablespoons), softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs, room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Meringue:

5 egg whites

¼ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Sugar syrup:

1 cup sugar

½ cup water

To Garnish:

raspberry jam

fresh raspberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a standing mixer using a paddle attachment, or using a large bowl and a hand held mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until smooth and then add the vanilla. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl and then add to the batter. Mix to combine.

Distribute about 2 Tablespoons of the batter evenly into the tart shells.

Bake the tarts for about 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool for about 10 minutes and then take the tarts out of the tart shells by holding the tart shell upside down over your other hand, gently pressing on the sides of the tart shells and the tarts should slide right out. Since there is so much butter in the batter, you don't need to grease the tart shells.

I bought my tart shells at Bed, Bath and Beyond. They are approximately 3 ½ inches across the top. I've seen them in many different stores. I know you can also use a muffin pan to make tarts, but I've never done it with this dough. You'll have to experiment if you want to use the muffin pan.

You can make the tarts a few days in advance.

To make the meringue, start by whisking your egg whites in a standing mixer with a whisk attachment or a large bowl and a hand mixer. Add the ¼ cup of sugar and cream of tartar and whisk the egg whites for about 10 minutes.

While the egg whites are being whipped, cook the syrup. Pour the sugar and water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook until the syrup reaches the temperature of about 235-240. While the egg whites are mixing, pour the syrup carefully into the egg whites by streaming the syrup down the side of the bowl. Make sure not to get the syrup on the whisk attachment. Mix for another 5 minutes or so, until the meringue is glossy.

When the tarts have cooled, spread a small amount of raspberry jam on the bottom of the tarts. You can also use any other tart jam, like cranberry jelly, lemon curd, plum jam, black currant jam, etc. I wouldn't recommend using very sweet jam, since the pastries will be cloyingly sweet. Pipe the meringue into the tart shells. Garnish with fresh raspberries.

Another great idea is to mix up half Nutella and half cream cheese and use it instead of the raspberry jam and then garnish the top of the meringue with shaved chocolate and/or chopped nuts of any kind. It's much better if you fill the tarts right before serving, but you can make them up to a day in advance. The tarts themselves will soften a bit from the filling, but they should still look nice enough to serve. I never add fresh berries to anything until right before serving, because they will not look their best after a few hours.

Shortbread Tarts With Meringue Filling

Olga Klyuchits

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Sweets

Servings 26 -28 tarts

Ingredients

  

Tarts:

• 2 ½ sticks of butter 20 Tablespoons, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Meringue:

• 5 egg whites
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

Sugar syrup:

• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup water

To Garnish:

• raspberry jam
• fresh raspberries

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In a standing mixer using a paddle attachment, or using a large bowl and a hand held mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until smooth and then add the vanilla.
• Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl and then add to the batter. Mix to combine.
• Distribute about 2 Tablespoons of the batter evenly into the tart shells.
• Bake the tarts for about 15 minutes in the preheated oven.
• Cool for about 10 minutes and then take the tarts out of the tart shells by holding the tart shell upside down over your other hand, gently pressing on the sides of the tart shells and the tarts should slide right out. Since there is so much butter in the batter, you don't need to grease the tart shells. You can make the tarts a few days in advance.
• To make the meringue, start by whisking your egg whites in a standing mixer with a whisk attachment or a large bowl and a hand mixer.
• Add the ¼ cup of sugar and the cream of tartar and whisk the egg whites for about 10 minutes.
• While the egg whites are being whipped, cook the syrup. Pour the sugar and water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook until the syrup reaches the temperature of about 235-240 degrees Fahrenheit.
• While the egg whites are mixing, pour the syrup carefully into the egg whites by streaming the syrup down the side of the bowl. Make sure not to get the syrup on the whisk attachment.
• Mix for another 5 minutes or so, until the meringue is glossy.
• When the tarts have cooled, spread a small amount of raspberry jam on the bottom of the tarts.
• You can also use any other tart jam, like cranberry jelly, lemon curd, plum jam, black currant jam, etc. I wouldn't recommend using very sweet jam, since the pastries will be cloyingly sweet. Pipe the meringue into the tart shells. Garnish with fresh raspberries.
• Another great idea is to mix up half Nutella and half cream cheese and use it instead of the raspberry jam and then garnish the top of the meringue with shaved chocolate and/or chopped nuts of any kind.
• It's much better if you fill the tarts right before serving, but you can make them up to a day in advance. The tarts themselves will soften a bit from the filling, but they should still look nice enough to serve. I never add fresh berries to anything until right before serving, because they will not look their best after a few hours.