Orange Meringue Tarts

Published : June 23, 2015

Makes: Approximately 24 or a single medium sized pie.

Base:

Sweet Short Pastry

100g butter
200g plain flour
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon caster sugar (optional)
100–125ml cold water (approx)

Filling

1 x 250g jar of Orange Butter (purchased or homemade)

Meringue:

2 egg whites
¼ cup caster sugar

Prepare tart tray(s) by lightly greasing or spray with cooking spray.
Make pastry by mixing butter into flour until mixture looks like breadcrumbs; add sugar, egg yolk and water to make short pastry. Add the water gradually as you may not need it all. Dough should not be too dry or too wet.
Roll out on well floured surface, cut to tartlet sized shapes (I used my largest 7cm sized metal scone cutter), prick with a fork and place into trays.
Option 1: Put bases in trays and bake empty for 10 min at 210C. They will rise in the centre, so just push the centre down gently while still hot and then cool before adding 1 teaspoon of Orange Butter to each.
Option 2: Prick bases, place in trays and add 1 teaspoon of Orange Butter to each.
Leave a gap at the top. Don't overfill the cases as you need to allow room for the meringue and also the Orange Butter may ooze out during cooking.
To make the meringue, beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then add the caster sugar gradually until all dissolved and then beat until stiff and glossy.
Spoon or pipe the meringue mixture gently over the Orange Butter.

Baking options: