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
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.
Thank you Olga for this amazing recipe that brings back many childhood memories. Last time I ate these was in my 5th grade school cafeteria (In Latvia). I was craving them so bad! And your recipe is exactly what I was looking for! Same taste! Shared with my neighbors and they all love them! Will definitely be making these quite often 🙈
I'm so glad you were able to recreate something that holds such a special memory for you, Ilona. Thank you for taking the time to write; I really appreciate getting feedback. I love that you shared it with your neighbors too.
Hi Olga. What kind of thermometer do you use for this recipe? Ty
Hi Olga, how far in advance can I make the tarts without filling them?
I do not have a mixer, Do you think I can use a handheld mixer and get the same fluffy/glossy result for the merengue?
Also, do the cups turn out crunchy or soft? I looking for a crunchy recipe, so want to make sure beforehand
The tarts are crunchy, Alina.
Olga,
I read thru the comments that the merengue diflates. Is making the merengue one day in advance too much time? Have you ever made the cups one day in advance?
Yes, I've definitely made them ahead of time and I never had any problem with the meringue deflating.
Any other cream u could recommend? I'm not so fond of belkoviy krem.
You can use whichever one you prefer. Cream cheese frosting, buttercream frosting, or even simple whipped cream.
Can you use meringue powder in this recipe? If so do I still need the cream of tarter? We are making these for a dinner featuring Russian foods is this a authentic type Russian dessert?
I've never used meringue powder, Mary, so I don't know how to advise you. Yes, these are very authentic Russian.
I have never used meringue powder, Mary, so I have no idea how to advise you.
Yes, those tarts are authentic Russian.
Thank you for your reply. If I try it with meringue powder I'll let you know. I was thinking of serving this with either beef stroganoff or Pork Ruletiki for our Church's mission conference where we are featuring Russian foods. What would make authentic dishes to serve with these?
Mashed potatoes will go really well with either of those dishes, Mary. Another very authentic Russian dish that you might think about are the Porcupine Meatballs. They are something that many Russians make and it comes with a gravy that goes great with mashed potatoes too.
For a salad or vegetable side dish, you can serve Cauliflower Tomato Salad, Marinated Mini Peppers, Lecho, or Garlic Dill Cucumbers.
Thank you so much. I had actually copied off both the porcupine meatballs and the cauliflower tomato salad! Also thought of Borsch or your green borsch with black bread as a sort of appetizer. Also thank you for putting the names in Russian - I'll make up name tags for each dish with both English and Russian names. You are a real blessing!
Have fun! It's sounds like a great party:).
Hi Olga. This is my favorite dessert. Love it. Great job. Is it ok to freeze the dough? If so how long can it stay in a freezer.
Thanks for the recipe.
That's great, Natasha. I've never tried freezing the dough, so I can't really say for sure. If you ever try it, let me know how it turns out.
Hi Olga!! I was wondering if you think it would work if I was to fill these with Zavarnoy Krem (from your tart recipie)?? do you think it would work or do you think they would become too soggy?? i really appreciate all of your hard work and advice, thank you so much!!! May you be blessed!
I personally prefer meringue, but you can certainly use pastry cream.
Hi Olga, just wondering what thermometer you use?
I want to make the meringue filling for trubochki, (like for the Italian pizzelle kind). Do you think the filling will be ok with that, or is it too tender for those? I remember eating something similar like that, and the cream was very similar to your meringue, but maybe a bit more dense I think.
It would probably work, Oksana. Let me know how it turns out:).
It worked! I filled the trubochki few hours before the party, and they didn't get soggy. People loved meringue filling. I had a couple left over for the next day, and it still held up pretty well. Only the edges of the exposed cream hardened just a bit, but still very much edible.
Next question, do you think adding dry jello mix(a very small amount), or a small amount of liquid jello to the meringue will ruin the cream? I wanted to try it, but didn't want to ruin the batch. Thanks
That's awesome! Thanks so much for letting me know. That was a brilliant idea.
I think adding gelatin should work too.
Do you need to put the cream of tartar? or could i substitute it with something or not put it at all?
The cream of tartar helps to stabilize the meringue, Emily. You can omit it if you prefer. I like to use it.
Olga Please tell me do i need to grease the tart shells??? Thank You...
No, Lana. If you did, I would have specified in the instructions. The tart batter has plenty of butter in it and the tarts should come out with no problem.
Thank You ))))
очень очень красиво и вкусно
Thank you, Elena.