Lemon Curd Tart with Pandan Meringue

This is my version of a lemon tart. My tart has a fluffy meringue on top with some drops of pandan extract mixed through.

I make every part of this Lemon curd tart with pandan meringue myself: shortcrust, lemon curd, and meringue. It does take some time, but that means double fun when finished.

Egg white

On top of the tart, I create a thick layer of marbled pandan meringue. Which means that I add three drops of pandan extract. I then go through my meringue with a spoon and ‘marble’ the foam with the color green. It looks like spring, although this is also a fantastic cake for Christmas.

Wash the Eggs

Wash the eggs under running water before using, to prevent contamination with the salmonella bacteria. The meringue goes in the oven shortly so it is probably not completely done inside.

Lemon Curd Tart with pandan meringue

This recipe is enough for 8 pieces and is ready in 2 hours and 30 minutes.

The cake consists of three parts:

  1. lemon curd
  2. bottom (shortcrust pastry)
  3. meringue

Ingredients

Lemon curd

  • 8 x egg yolks
  • 140 real unsalted butter
  • 150 ml of lemon juice
  • 135 grams of sugar

Bottom (shortcrust pastry)

  • 200 grams of flour
  • 100 grams of unsalted butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Things you need:

  • 24 centimeters round baking tin for tarts
  • baking beans (any kind of dry beans)

Top layer

  • 2-3 egg whites
  • 100 grams of sugar
  • 3 drops of pandan extract

Lemon curd

I start with the lemon curd. If you do not have the energy to make it, no worries you can also buy lemon curd. Lemon curd from the supermarket is too sweet in my opinion. I like it a tad more sour.

Making lemon curd yourself is not difficult, but it takes some time. The advantage is that you can make it as sweet or sour as you want.

I have made the recipe for lemon curd before. View the recipe here.

Pie crust

You can buy a tart base from the freezer in the supermarket, but making one yourself is much tastier and certainly not difficult. Making a shortcrust does not take much time. It should be in the oven for about fifteen minutes, but the dough must rest for half an hour. Making a shortcrust bottom takes in total almost one hour.

  1. Place flour, cold butter (cut into pieces) and the salt in a cold bowl
  2. Mix by hand until a crumbled mix occurs
  3. Add a tablespoon or two of ice cold water
  4. Mix into a ball and do not really knead it, but push the dough together
  5. Let sit in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for 30 minutes
  6. Sprinkle countertop with flour
  7. Roll dough out into a circle larger than your baking tin of 24 centimeters
  8. Grease the tin with some butter and sprinkle very lightly with flour
  9. Carefully lay the dough into the mold
  10. Let the dough hang over the sides and cut it away after you have baked it. This will make a neat finish.
  11. Pierce holes in the bottom with a fork (this will prevent the bottom from bubbling)
  12. Place baking paper on top and neatly distribute the ‘baking beans’ in it
  13. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes
  14. Remove beans and bake for 5 minutes without baking paper
  15. Let cool for 10 minutes.
  16. Pour lemon curd in and distribute evenly
  17. Bake at 180 degrees for about 18 minutes (or until the curd starts to brown a bit)

I bake my tart for 18 minutes, but keep an eye on it. It can be done in 15 minutes too.

The cake can now cool down. In the meantime I start my meringue.

Meringue with pandan

Because I have separated 8 eggs for the yolks in the cream, there is a lot of egg whites left. That is perfect for the top layer. Do not use all eight whites, which is far too much froth. I use about 2-3 egg whites.

The rest of the egg whites I freeze for some other time to make this for example:

Meringue

Do not use a plastic container to mix in your egg whites, but a metal or glass bowl. Fat often stays behind in plastic. This will make your egg whites to collapse.

Beat your egg whites on average speed with a mixer until the mixture looks like a cloud and makes half stiff peaks when you take out the whisks. This batter does not really shine and you can still see the air bubbles.

Now you can mix at high speed and slowly, spoon by spoon add the sugar. I use regular sugar, but fine granulated sugar is better (mixes easier). Add a tablespoon at a time and mix completely away before adding the next spoon.

Mix until the foam forms very firm peaks when you pull the mixer hooks out of the batter. The peaks must remain upright (and not move), then you know that your meringue is ready.

I drip three drops of pandan extract on top. I do not mix it anymore, but scoop it with a spoon through a few times. This creates a marble effect.

The foam can be scooped on top of the cake. I make a nice mountain and make sure the foam is nicely distributed and touches the edges of the crust. You can also pipe the meringue on top but I like this ‘cloud’ effect better.

Now the cake is allowed to return to the oven for another 5 minutes or until the highest peaks turn slightly golden; this looks beautiful.

Now carefully remove the edge by placing the cake on a small bowl and gently push. These special tart tins have a bottom that can be taken out. If you use a baking tin with no loose bottom, just try to take out the first slice gently. The rest is easy ;-).

Enjoy this lemon curd tart with pandan meringue with a nice cup of tea or coffee. It is a quite heavy tart but it stays ‘light’ because of the fluffy meringue.

See more pandan recipes? View these links:

Pandan meringue tarts with lemon curd and whipped cream
Pandan dragons meringues
Pandan meringue Christmas tree

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