Monday, January 28, 2008

Shar-pei Lemon Meringue Tiny Pies

daring bakers lemon meringue pie -1

Ta-da-da! It's Daring Bakers again, as you might have noticed if you're an avid reader of food blogs. We are so many now that you can hardly miss us - the blog roll is up to more than I care to count at the moment, suffice it to say: we're many.

daring bakers lemon meringue pie -3

And this month, we're all making lemon meringue pie. I think I write this almost every month, but again, I wasn't thrilled when I saw the recipe. I don't like pies very much. It's the crust - I like the filling well enough. And while I love meringue, I love it so much more when it's crunchy and chewy, like a good pavlova. Not very much when it's soft like it is when it's topping a pie. And the filling then? Well. It didn't excite me very much either. Lemon. Uh-huh. Sure. But there's a LOT of cornstarch in this recipe, it's not like a lemon curd (which is tasty enough) but it's much thicker and even though it's made from scratch, it feels somewhat artificial.

daring bakers lemon meringue pie -4

Oh, enough with the whining. Anyway. I put it off for a long time, then finally made it (right before I got the stomach flu, so good thing I managed to finish them at all!) but I decided that as I knew I wouldn't be crazy about the results, I wouldn't make very much. Thus: I went mini. Bite-sized, in fact. I used my mini-muffin tin and only made half the recipe. I actually tossed some pastry, filling AND topping, since I was too tired to make more than twelve.

daring bakers lemon meringue pie -2

Did I encounter problems? No. Not at all. It was a breeze. Except for that my meringue started to droop and wrinkle after a little while out of the oven, thus the title of this post. (You know the cute shar-pei wrinkle puppies? That's exactly what my meringue tops looked like.) But the crust stayed nice and crunchy, the filling was firm (no wonder, with all the corn starch) and with a nice tangy flavor, and the meringue was sweet and tasty. My guests liked them a lot and I had two. But will I be making them again? Ah, probably not. But I'm glad I made the challenge, and I'm looking forward to the next one!

pink_db

38 comments:

David T. Macknet said...

But they look absolutely beautiful! I love that they're so small! One of the other blogs suggested baking the meringue separately ... maybe that would have helped yours? Good job!

... said...

Great job. THESE LITTLE BABIES LOOK AMAZING. And cute post name.

Iisha

Dagmar said...

They are so tiny and cute!!!! They look adorable! I don't like this kind of meringue either but it's OK in lemon meringue pie :-)

Katia Mangham said...

They look precious- even if they sort of wrinkled a bit. You did a great job!

thepassionatecook said...

they do look amazingly small... well done on such a fiddly job!

Cookie baker Lynn said...

They are adaorable! Good job on the challenge!

Dolores said...

I think your "Shar Pei" mini tarts are adorable. David's got a great idea, especially for the miniatures. Bake separate meringue kisses and then top the lemon custard with them...

And one of these months, someone's bound to pick a recipe that you love. Until then, I think it's great that you join in and let us know what worked and what didn't.

Lena said...

Oooo... those are some cute pies. I bet they tasted as good as they are cute :)

DK said...

One Word - PERFECT!

Annemarie said...

Ah, poor you with the stomach bug and the un-exciting dessert. At least you were able to have two - you've got to pick up your strength following the bug. Maybe next month will be your dream dessert...

Gretchen Noelle said...

These look just adorable! Too bad LMP is not your favorite. And too bad about being sick...hope your better now!

Anonymous said...

You're not kidding about the blogroll being huge; I'm still working my way through the As and I swear I've gained weight from drooling over all these LMPs!

I'm sorry that you didn't enjoy the taste of the pie, and I do have to agree about the excessive amount of cornflour called for. But! Your mini-pies are absolutely adorable!

glamah16 said...

I love your comparisons to the adorable tarts looking like Shar Pei's.

Mary said...

Your mini tarts are soooo cute! They DO remind of those little Shar-pei puppies!

Cakelaw said...

LOL - love the Sharpei analogy. These are really cute pies.

Andrea said...

I love how you did the meringue! They really do look like little sharpei puppies! :-)

Chris said...

They look so great....I love the tiny tarts. And, I am sorry you had a bug!

daphne said...

beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Hahaha sharpei meringues! Cute =)

I thought they also looked like icecream swirlies on a pie crust. Your sharpei analogy is better!

Greatjob!

Jenny said...

Beautiful little pies! Nice job!

Big Boys Oven said...

lovely tartlets! the swirl is so gorgeously done!

Anonymous said...

My pies went Shar-pei on me too ;) You tartlettes look lovely and the curd looks wonderfully yellow.

Feline Flodin said...

Baka en sats till så kan jag tänka mig att upphäva mitt sötsaksförbud. ;D

Jeanne said...

Haha - I love the post name - such an apt description! I love both Shar Peis and lemon meringue, so what a winning combination. Love the new profile pic too!

Jenny said...

Oh like a dog! No wonder I didn't get the reference!
Your tarts look great!

Deborah said...

They look perfect! I love how small they are!

Meeta K. Wolff said...

These look so cute! Nice going!

Joy said...

Those are real cutie-pies! I agree that the filling tasted rather artificial, there was too much cornflour for my taste. I love your pics.

creampuff said...

Anne,

They're adorable!!!

Helene said...

They are just adorbla,love the title! I went minis too and had more than my share. GLad you joined in!

Lunch Buckets said...

I'm in the mini camp too - and although we all loved them, I probably won't make them again. Too many recipes, not enough time!

breadchick said...

They are little Shar-peis! How cute and adorable.

Unknown said...

I love the bitty tarts! SO cute! I may try this kind of thing next time. Speaking of shar-peis. I have a chocolate chip cookie recipe that you squish to make them look like shar-peis...it is THE BEST recipe ever, seriously. Check it out if you want.

Anonymous said...

Lovely little lemon meringues! Excellente!b

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

Very cute! They look really beautiful! I love the name you gave them...

Cheers,

Rosa

Jen Yu said...

I love your little tartelettes - they are adorable! You did a fantastic job on the challenge. Gorgeous :)

african vanielje said...

I'm sorry you got the stomach flu, been there already this year, which is why I've been a bit scarce, sorry. I love your little tarts, and bite size seems perfect as they are so sweet. The Sharpei description is great but only makes them seem more cute. I particularly like the citrussy green light of your first pic, beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Your tartlets are gorgeous. I laughed at the Shar-Pei description.

I too had the same reaction to this challenge, but I'm looking forward to February's!

Jane of VeganBits.com