In the Kitchen: Lemon Cheese Tarts!

Lemon cheese, or lemon butter which ever you prefer to call it, is also another recipe from my Nana’s cookbook. Every time I visit my Nan on her farm my fingers are crossed that she has a couple of jars in the fridge and some tart shells ready to go! The lemon cheese has a fresh zing that dances on your tongue when you take your first bite and then the short crust tart shells come in and balance it all out.

This is what you will need:

2 eggs

pinch of salt

juice of 2 lemons

1 teaspoon of lemon rind

1 cup of sugar

1 tablespoon of butter

Beat eggs, salt, juice, rind and sugar until frothy. Add butter and cook over a saucepan of boiling water until thick, stirring with a wooden spoon. This took me up to 15 minutes to get the right texture.

The lemon cheese is ready when it coats the back of the spoon.

To make the tart shells you will need:

1 tablespoon of butter

1 tablespoon of caster sugar

1 egg yolk

1 tablespoon of milk

5 tablespoons of self-raising flour (sifted)

Cream butter and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer. Add egg yolk and milk, then sifted flour. A dough should start to form that will look like the picture above.

With a rolling pin, roll pastry out onto a floured surface. Using a cooke cutter cut out circles and place into a greased mini-muffin tray.

Bake in a 200 degree oven for 10-15 minutes or until nice and golden, like above.

Spoon the mixture into the tart shells and enjoy! You can also keep your leftover lemon cheese in a jar in the fridge.