"My Moms Lemon Meringue Tarts"
How did this happen? I have never been a baker. I enjoy making toll house cookies, brownies from a box, and cupcakes. My mother has always baked so I grew up around it, I just wasn't interested. When my mom and her friend wrote a cookie cookbook I thought "great lots of cookies for us while they are writing their recipes," and that did happen.
I invited my friends to her cookbook launch knowing they would enjoy it. While I was helping with the demos and filling more plates with cookies they were hatching this plan. I should give some background on this. We all rent a house together in Mackinaw in the summer. We bring ten boys, four husbands, and enough food to feed ten families (which always seems to get eaten.) This past summer we had a rain day and decided to go to the movies. Our wonderful husbands took all ten boys to one show and we saw something else. "Julie and Julia". We were hooked and talked about how inspiring the movie was, so now we are doing our own version.
My recipe is "My moms lemon meringue tarts" (my grandma actually) My grandma was not much of a cookie baker but she could crank out some awesome pies. This is a recipe I believe my mom adapted from Grandma's favorite pie.
I found some of the instructions confusing, like needing aluminum foil and dried beans and what exactly is cream of tartar? (I actually had this in my pantry but is was expired.) Come to find out the foil and beans is to put in your dough to hold it down so it does not puff up when you bake it. Genius. Cream of tartar is a mix of baking soda and powder.
The boys and I had no trouble with the recipe for the pie crusts or the lemon pie filling. It was the meringue that was troublesome. We whipped our egg whites with the whipper on the electric mixer and then added the other ingredients as instructed. After seven minutes and no peaks I called my mother. She said we were supposed to whip it on high. So I did that for ten more minutes and it got thicker. I spooned this mixture onto my tarts and baked them. When they came out most of it had slid off of the tarts and onto my sil pad. It looked really pretty so I scraped it off and tried to put it back on the tarts. My son says they look nothing like Grandmas but they are delicious!!
This is going to be a very fun experience and if my kids will stay in the kitchen with me to help it's going to be awesome. Thanks girls for all of the cookies. We did it. Our first recipes are done. I am lookin forward to the next batch.
Danielle G
Feb 17, 2010
My Mom's Lemon Meringue Tarts
"My Moms Lemon Meringue Tarts"
How did this happen? I have never been a baker. I enjoy making toll house cookies, brownies from a box, and cupcakes. My mother has always baked so I grew up around it, I just wasn't interested. When my mom and her friend wrote a cookie cookbook I thought "great lots of cookies for us while they are writing their recipes," and that did happen.
I invited my friends to her cookbook launch knowing they would enjoy it. While I was helping with the demos and filling more plates with cookies they were hatching this plan. I should give some background on this. We all rent a house together in Mackinaw in the summer. We bring ten boys, four husbands, and enough food to feed ten families (which always seems to get eaten.) This past summer we had a rain day and decided to go to the movies. Our wonderful husbands took all ten boys to one show and we saw something else. "Julie and Julia". We were hooked and talked about how inspiring the movie was, so now we are doing our own version.
My recipe is "My moms lemon meringue tarts" (my grandma actually) My grandma was not much of a cookie baker but she could crank out some awesome pies. This is a recipe I believe my mom adapted from Grandma's favorite pie.
I found some of the instructions confusing, like needing aluminum foil and dried beans and what exactly is cream of tartar? (I actually had this in my pantry but is was expired.) Come to find out the foil and beans is to put in your dough to hold it down so it does not puff up when you bake it. Genius. Cream of tartar is a mix of baking soda and powder.
The boys and I had no trouble with the recipe for the pie crusts or the lemon pie filling. It was the meringue that was troublesome. We whipped our egg whites with the whipper on the electric mixer and then added the other ingredients as instructed. After seven minutes and no peaks I called my mother. She said we were supposed to whip it on high. So I did that for ten more minutes and it got thicker. I spooned this mixture onto my tarts and baked them. When they came out most of it had slid off of the tarts and onto my sil pad. It looked really pretty so I scraped it off and tried to put it back on the tarts. My son says they look nothing like Grandmas but they are delicious!!
This is going to be a very fun experience and if my kids will stay in the kitchen with me to help it's going to be awesome. Thanks girls for all of the cookies. We did it. Our first recipes are done. I am lookin forward to the next batch.
Danielle G
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You're a baker now! Awesome job!
ReplyDeleteBTW, I use Cream of Tartar sometimes but never knew it is a combination of baking soda & powder! We both learned something new!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness it was you that got this recipe instead of me! They may not be beautiful, but they were delicious! I think we need to add it to the back of the list and give it another try someday.
ReplyDeleteQuestion for Sharon and Theresa: how well do these cookies freeze? I have so many baked goods on my counter that I could easily gain 10 pounds with this whole process.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about the lemon tarts and freezing, however I think they do freeze lemon pies . I have frozen most of my cookies. Wrap them well against freezer burn. You can also freeze the dough and bake a few at a time as needed. Perhaps you would like to do this with some of the future batches. Just label the frozen dough. I use a magic marker on the freezer bags. I also use a food saver system to freeze the dough.
ReplyDeleteDanielle I am very proud of all of you for bringing these recipies alive. You have helped me realize, some changes need to be made in the next printing, like beat the egg whites on high. I will time them to give the next person some idea of how long it might take to form stiff peaks. Love, Mom
ReplyDeleteCookie friends, What a great idea! Danielle G. Your mom was so proud of all of you that she gave me the blog site. I'll be following you. I might have to try a few of the "easier" recipes my self. keep having fun!
ReplyDeletePeggy Lane
Loved, loved, loved them but had trouble posting yesterday. They were all gone in less than 2 minutes. I love the bit size and the lemon filling is delicious. Great job. Round one done. On to new experiences in round two.... love doing this with you all! Angie
ReplyDeleteI think my cream of tartar has been in my spice cabinet for at least 20 years...it doesn't have an expiration date :)
ReplyDelete