I’ve been going a little bit nuts at the green grocer lately, making the most of the summer bounty of fruit. So with 4 punnetts of blueberries in the refrigerator I knew I had to do something with them other than enjoy them in my lunch time bowl of yoghurt and make blueberry cake.
One of my all time favourite desserts is lemon meringue pie, so I thought why not try Blueberry Meringue Tarts.
These gorgeous little tarts are filled with a blue black blueberry curd which is oh so pretty. Italian meringue tops the blueberry meringue tarts, making for a sweet marshmallowy and snow white topping that contrasts beautifully with the dark as night blueberry curd filling.
As for the base, I actually tried a coconut oil tart base before coming back to my old faithful recipe as my coconut oil tart bases shrunk drastically on baking. I guess the heat and humidity here in Brisbane at the moment weren’t necessarily helping either. I also found that while the coconut oil tart bases were crisp when they came out the oven they soon went soft. So it was my old faithful pastry to the rescue, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Anyone have a really great coconut oil pastry recipe they recommend?
So take a break from lemon meringue pies and try these blueberry meringue tarts. And despite appearances they are nowhere near as difficult as you might think.
Blueberry Meringue Tarts
Ingredients
- BLUEBERRY CURD:
- 125 g of blueberries 5 ounces
- 1 tbs of water
- 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
- 90 g of caster sugar 3 oz, superfine
- 40 g of butter 3 tbs
- PASTRY:
- 200 g of plain flour sifted, 1 2/3 cups, all purpose
- 30 g of icing sugar sifted, 1/4 cup, powdered
- 75 g of chilled unsalted butter chopped into cubes, 5 1/4 tbs
- 1 egg yolk
- 60 ml of cold water 1/4 cup
- ITALIAN MERINGUE:
- 180 g of caster sugar 3/4 cup, superfine
- 2 tbs of water
- 2 egg whites
Instructions
- Begin by making the blueberry curd. Place the blueberries in a small saucepan with the water over a medium low heat and cook until the berries burst and start to break down. Strain them through a fine mesh sieve, pushing down on the berries with a spoon to release all their juice. Discard the skins.
- Return the blueberry juice to the saucepan and add the sugar, egg and egg yolk and butter. Whisk to combine and place over a medium low heat. Whisk until thickened, this will take around 10 minutes. Don't be tempted to turn the heat up to cook it quicker as you are likely to curdle the eggs. The mixture will be ready when you can see a slight trail from the whisk in the mixture. It will thicken further when refrigerated. Refrigerate overnight.
- In the bowl of a food processor add the flour and icing sugar and process to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and water and process until the mixture starts to come together in a ball. Remove from the food processor and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180 celsius (355 Fahrenheit) and lightly grease 8 10cm loose bottom mini tart tins. Roll out the pastry until roughly 3mm thick and then cut circles from the pastry that are 2 cm larger in diameter than the tart tin. Line the each tart tin and trim excess (an easy way to do this is to run your rolling pin over the top of the tart tin). Chill for 15 minutes or until firm. Prick the base lightly with a fork in several places and line with baking paper and fill with pastry weights. Bake for 10 minutes before removing the weights and baking for a further 3 to 5 minutes or until dry and lightly golden. Set aside to cool.
- To make the Italian Meringue combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and stir to dissolve the sugar. If any sugar crystals stick to the side of the saucepan take a wet pastry brush and brush the sugar crystals down into the sugar and water mixture. Turn on the heat and bring the sugar mixture to a boil. Add a candy thermometer and cook until it reaches soft ball stage 115 Celsius (240 Fahrenheit). Remove from the heat.
- While the sugar mixture is heating place the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer and when you remove the sugar syrup from the heat begin whisking the egg whites. Whisk until soft peaks form. Slowly pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites in a thin steady stream, ensuring the syrup doesn't hit the whisk and splatter everywhere and risking burning yourself. Whisk until the mixture begins to cool and is thick and glossy. Around 5 minutes.
- To assemble the tarts divide the blueberry curd between the tart bases and spread to cover the tart base evenly. Fill a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe over the top of the blueberry curd in whatever pattern you prefer.
Recipe Notes
This recipe will make more pastry than is required. In fact it will make enough for 8 tarts. If you wish to make 8 tarts simply double the blueberry curd and Italian meringue recipes, otherwise wrap up remaining pastry in cling film and place in a freezer safe bag and freeze.
Imperial measurements provided in brackets. Need to convert something else? Check my conversion chart.
These are so pretty! I’ll be making them soon.
I tried this recipe today, but instead of making little tarts I made a big one. It was so delicious 🙂 Thank you so much for this recipe <3
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Beatriz 😀
You have a wonderful blog! I just stumbled upon it from your pinterest board – everything you make looks delicious and your photography is amazing! Congrats on the cookbook!
So cute and beautiful! I love your photos!
Thank you so much 😀
I’m so glad I’m back and that berries and summer fruits are still in season! I’d love to try this recipe I adore blueberries 😀
How awesome, blueberry curd, would never have thought of doing that, delicious.
wht a great idea – blueberry curd. i made a rhubarb curd recently, it was lovely.
This looks delicious Jennifer!
The layer of blueberry looks absolutely to die for. Loving the colour!
Jennifer, I’ve been the same this summer! Our vege crisper is totally full all of the time and I just can’t get enough of the sweet mangoes, cherries, berries and stone fruit! 😀
love the blueberry curd picture. it looks so gorgeously purple! im sure it must have been delish.
Wow – what an inspired idea! I have been meaning to try out making a berry curd – it sounds nice an easy! And looks completely delicious.
Thanks Sarah 😀
I was reading through the blueberry curd instructions and it seems you’ve forgotten to add the sugar to the ingredients list! The tart looks amaaaaazing by the way!
Thanks for picking that up Lisa. I’ve corrected the recipe now 😀
The picture with the spoonful of the dessert made my heart skip a beat. This looks positively divine!
Thanks Rachel. I was pretty pleased with how they turned out. I’ll definitely be making them again 😀
How cute are those?! And I’m a little jealous that it’s summer where you are.
Blueberry curd sounds amazing! I’ve never had a curd made without citrus so would absolutely love to try this. It looks slightly thinner than a lemon one but oh-so delicious. Gorgeous photos too 🙂
What a beautiful spin on the classic meringue. I was never a fan of blueberries until I moved to Australia. They are just divine here, aren’t they, plump and sweet as candy!
I have not used coconut flakes in my tart shells before and thought of it once. However, I was concerned, since I don’t know who will fancy them in my family. After reading your attempt, I will think once more :). These blueberry meringue tarts looks absolutely light and delicious and I love your clicks. ♥ Jo
Gorgeous! Those tarts look amazing and so exquisite.
Cheers,
Rosa
These are the prettiest tarts, your styling is stunning! 🙂
Thank you so much Laura 😀
My goodness the colour of that curd is just beautiful! What a delicate and lovely-looking dessert. I haven’t got a coconut oil pastry recipe I’m afraid but would love to know when you find one.
I’ll let you know if I come across one Claire 🙂
Oh, divine! I want to come to your house. Now!
Sure come on over 😀
These tarts look just gorgeous!