Mango-Citrus Meringue Tartlets
Mangoes pair wonderfully with the abundance of winter citrus and give a sweet, perfumed scant tropical flare to this desert and the vanilla meringue is an exquisite yet simple addition that makes the end result seemingly fancy. The combined natural sweetness of peak season citrus and ripe mangoes allow for less sugar than the ordinary tart.
If you want a more marshmellow-y meringue, we recommend using the Swiss Meringue method, which is fantastic but a little more work.
A huge shout out to Smitten Kitchen, whose “great unshrinkable tart shell” recipe we used for this recipe. In a world where everyone and everybody throws recipes up on the internet, the Smitten Kitchen blog is one of the last places where you can 100% rely on the recipes to work. Besides here of course!
Read more this recipes creators; Two Old Tarts
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Mango-Citrus Meringue Tartlets
Makes 4 Tartlets
Ingredients
For the meringue
1 cup superfine sugar plus ¼ cup
1 fresh vanilla bean
5 egg whites, room temperature
¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar
½ teaspoon vanilla
For the tartlet shells (this recipe is from Smitten Kitchen’s, the“great unshrinkable tart shell” recipe)
1 ½ cups flour
½ cup powdered sugar
¼ cup salt
2 teaspoons orange zest
1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons) very cold, unsalted butter, cubed small
1 large egg
For the mango citrus curd
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 teaspoon mandarin zest (page, golden nugget, clementine, tangelos dancy etc)
1 teaspoon cara cara orange zest
1 – 1 ½ cups of citrus juice (I choose 2 lemons, 2 limes, 3 mandarins, 1 blod orange, 2 cara cara)
2 ripe or semi ripe mangoes, chopped
¼ cup raw sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
4 eggs and 2 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ teaspoon salt
Method
Make the vanilla bean sugar for the meringue before starting this recipe. Ideally you want to do this the day before and set the jar on the counter so you are reminded to “shake it” often. You’ll have extra you can use to sweeten your coffee (like Danielle did).
Place on cup of sugar in a mason jar. Place the vanilla bean on a flat surface and cut it in half. Cut each side open, lengthwise. Using the edge of the knife scrape the inside seeds out, holding the pod against the cutting board while you scrape down. Do this on both sides of the cut bean and both halves. Place the emptied pods and the seeds/insides you scraped out into the mason jar. Cover and shake. Shake often for a day before use.
Make the tartlet shells next. Follow the recipe on Smitten Kitchen here. This recipe makes enough for 4 -4.75 inch tartlets
Prepare the curd. Place the mango and the citrus juice, sugar and vanilla in a blender and blend until totally smooth. Pour the mixture into a heavy bottom sauce pan on medium-high heat, cook for a few minutes until sugar is melded and the mixture hot. Ladle a little of the hot mango and citrus mixture into the beaten eggs to temper them. This prevents the eggs from scrambling when you put them in the hot liquid. Pour the eggs into the sauce pan and gently whisk while the mixture comes to a slight boil. Once it boils turn the mixture down on low and whisk gently for about 6-8 minutes or until the mixture is very thick. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and salt. Mix well and refrigerate until cold, 2 hours minimum.
Assemble
When the tart shells are totally cool and the curd cold. Fill each tart shell almost to the top of the shell. I like to fill a little of each at a time to make sure I end up with uniformity of the fill. Refrigerate until the meringue assemble stage.
For the meringue
Combine 5 egg whites in the bowl of a kitchen aid mixer with a whisk attachment. Beat the egg white until foamy and add the cream of tartar. Continue to beat the egg white and when the egg whites just begin forming peaks, add the 1 cup of sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, while continuously whisking the whites. This process will take about 7-10 minutes and the egg whites should be stiff peaks at the end. Add the vanilla and beat a few more minutes until the stiff peaks are all glossy.
Place the meringue in a pastry bag fitted with the tip of your choice. Decorate the meringues in the pattern that most amuses you.
Sprinkle the vanilla sugar over the top of the meringue and blowtorch cook it! Slowly cook/brown the meringue to desired doneness- darkness is really the key, you want a deep amber color with parts of the white meringue peaking through. Be Careful not to burn the meringue.
Refrigerate tartlets until ready to serve!
