Lemon Verbena Meringue Tartlets

My cousin Ethan is getting married on a summer camp outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania tomorrow. Ethan and I, and all the cousins, spent many magical summers together as kids thanks to my parents' house in Maine and the proximity of the cousins' former home in Vermont. We spent hours upon hours traipsing through the fishing camp next door (now a town recreation center), raiding the supply shop for candy and making up rude rhymes about the campers, one particularly cruel one which was directed at a guy we nicknamed Rambo and his rabbit, and that ultimately resulted in our grandmother forcing us to go next door with bowed heads and apologize. We honed our acorn whistles, perfected matching bird calls, and practiced shimmying over the dividing fences as we made up enemies and allies in our ongoing imagined battle for control of the lakefront (and candy store). One time Ethan and I were running through the forest, barefoot, and we slipped on a large dead fish with a black worm crawling out of its eaten eyeball. Another time we braved a sloshing lake storm in a rubber raft together with his little sister and my same-age cousin Lydia, all the while screaming made-up sea songs into the wind without any parental supervision. All of the cousins excelled at making up songs, and my aunt's dogs especially were the brunt of many of them. Ethan and I haven't seen each other in about eight years, Lydia maybe five, and Jacob close to a decade.

And so my sister came down to DC last night to drive up to Scranton with me. My parents and both aunts will be there, and Joey is coming too, and we've packed up the cards and Bananagrams in anticipation of a rainy, cabin-spent weekend, punctuated, of course, with long-overdue reunions and a wedding. Certainly there won't be any Rambos or battle cries, but I'm very much looking forward to the inevitable rekindling of cousin spirit that was so prominent in my kid-dom. 

Oh and so these tartlets have nothing to do with any of this, except that I made them last night when I had a spare two hours before my sister and I went out dancing. It's a tart, tart lemon verbena tart (did you read that? very tart), with a marshmallowy billowy topping that I love. I worried that the verbena would get lost in the lemon, and maybe it does just ever so slightly, but I still think I can taste the herbalness and definitely recommend that you try it if you've got verbena on hand. Half as much lemon balm might be nice too, or a few springs of lemon thyme if you're into it. Happy weekend, all!

Lemon Verbena Tartlets

Makes six four-inch tartlets

For tart dough
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan, via Smitten Kitchen
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon fine-grain salt
9 tablespoons very cold unsalted butter
1 large egg

For curd
½ cup granulated sugar
20 lemon verbena leaves, about two inches long each
6 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup cold water
½ cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
3 egg yolks, whisked (save the whites!)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1½ cups boiling water
2 teaspoon fresh lemon zest

For meringue
4 large egg whites
1 cup white sugar, pref. very fine

1. Make tart dough:  cube butter into one-inch pieces and chill in freezer while you ready everything else. In the bowl of a food processor, mix flour, sugar, and salt. Sprinkle butter over top, and pulse about 10 to 15 times until butter is between the size of peas and oatmeal. Use a fork to break up egg in a small bowl, and pour a bit at a time through the feed tube, pulsing once after each addition. When the egg is all in, pulse the dough for ten seconds at a time until it comes together. Right before you get to this point, the mixer will change sounds and essentially start grumbling at you. Dump dough onto sheet of plastic wrap, gently knead together, and chill for at least one hour.

2. Divide the dough into six pieces, and roll out one by one into a six-inch circle. Line each of your tartlet pans with the dough, even out the tops, prick crust all over with a fork, and freeze lined pans for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees F. When tartlet dough has chilled, line each pan with a buttered sheet of foil, sticking it firmly to the bottom and sides to help prevent shrinkage. Place the pans on a cookie sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until crust is lightly browned. Proceed with curd and meringue.

3.  Make curd:  chop verbena leaves and grind them into the sugar using the back of a wooden spoon or a pestle in a large bowl; this helps release the oils and flavor. Wipe out bowl. Add sugar, leaves, cornstarch, and salt to a heavy two- to three-quart saucepan. Gradually blend in cold water and lemon juice until smooth. Whisk in the three egg yolks until thoroughly combined, then add the butter. Slowly add the boiling water, stirring all the while, then bring mixture to a full boil over medium-low heat, stirring gently. Once curd begins to thicken, reduce heat and simmer for one minute. Remove from heat, strain curd into the bowl you smashed the leaves in, then stir in the zest. Pour filling into baked tart shells, and cover with foil to trap the heat.

4.  Make meringue: preheat oven to broil and place rack in upper third of oven. Place egg whites and sugar in the heatproof bowl of a stand mixer set over, but not touching, simmering water. Cook, whisking, until mixture is warm to the touch, about three to five minutes (will depend on how cold your egg whites were to begin). Transfer mixture to an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and mix on high until stiff peaks form.

5.  Spoon meringue over the tartlets, anchoring to crust around the edges; swirl it decoratively with the back of a spoon if you want. With tartlets on the cookie sheet still, broil until meringue is golden, about three or four minutes depending on your oven. Rotate the pan halfway through so that thebabes at the back don’t get more color than the ones in the front. Allow tartlets to set for about an hour, then pop in the fridge to cool and/or store. They will keep for two to three days in the fridge!