Eggless Lemon Tarts

My favorite bakery in Bombay carries lemon tarts - big crispy cups filled with luscious, sweet and tart lemon curd. 

This is my best attempt at making my version of it and it's completely eggless. No worrying about the curd getting curdled. 

Ingredients:

100 grams condensed milk
Powdered sugar for garnish (optional)

For short crust pastry

1.5 cups flour

100 grams butter (I used salted)

3 tablespoons ice-water

For lemon curd

3/4th cup lemon juice

3/4th cup sugar

Zest of 2 lemons

2 tablespoons vanilla custard powder mixed with 3 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons butter

To make the short crust pastry

Cut the butter into small cubes. Mix with the flour and knead with finger tips till fully incorporated. Use ice-water to form a tight dough. Wrap with cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

To make the lemon curd 

Heat the lemon juice and add sugar to it. Add the custard powder mixture and heat till it reaches a thin custard like consistency. Remove from heat and let it cool a little. Add the butter and whisk. It will become thick and glossy. Put a cling film over the curd and refrigerate. 

Blind baking the tart shells

I used 1 inch tart shells for these tarts. You can use larger ones but they will take longer to bake. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C

Roll the short crust pastry into a 1.5 mm thick disc. Because of the high butter content, you do not need to use any flour while rolling. Using a cutter, cut 2 inch round pieces out of the rolled disk. Reuse the scraps to roll out a disc again. Line the tart shells with these. Cut 3 inch pieces of parchment / baking / wax paper. Place these on the pastry. Next put baking beads or beans in them to weigh down the pastry while baking. 

Bake for 5 minutes. Remove the beads and paper, and bake again for 5 to 7 minutes or till the pastry starts turning golden. 

To fill the shells

Take the condensed milk and whip it till slightly fluffy. Fold the lemon curd into it. 

Take the cooled tart shells and fill with the curd. Dust with powdered sugar if you wish. 

Serve immediately.

Notes:

The above portion makes about 20 tarts. 

Any left over curd covered with a cling film can be refrigerated up to a month.