No-Bake Chocolate-Lemon Mini-Tarts

My first reaction to a chocolate flavoured with lime was disbelief. That was quite a while ago and since then I have come to love this combination. So, when I had some lemon filling left over from my cake (please refer my earlier post Lemon Cheese Cake), I decided to make these tarts.

The original recipe for the chocolate shells are from Hershey’s. I just used lemon filling instead of their cream cheese filling. It tasted amazing! I just loved the sharpness of the lemon against the rich chocolatey tarts.

You need to make only half the filling for the tarts. I already had some left over after using it as a filling for the cakes.

If you decide to make these, please let me know. They’re really simple – just mix all the ingredients for the tart shells and refrigerate. This recipe makes around 20 tarts.

PREP: 30 minutes

Ingredients

8 egg yolks, beaten

1 cup lemon juice

5 tbsp flour

21/2 cups sugar

115 gms butter (¼ lb)

½ cup hot water

Tart Shells

2 cups icing sugar

1 cup vanilla wafer crumbs

1 cup ground almonds

½ cup Hershey’s cocoa

¼ cup milk

Combine icing sugar, wafer crumbs, ground almonds and cocoa in a bowl. Sprinkle in milk, a little at a time, mixing until the ingredients are moistened and cling together. Shape into walnut sized pieces. Place in 20 paper-lined 11/4 inch muffin cups. Press the dough against the bottom and sides of each cup. Chill.

To make the filling, beat all the ingredients together with ½ cup hot water together. Cook in a double boiler, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and is of spreading consistency. Cool and fill the tart shells with the filling. Sprinkle some desiccated coconut on the top.

Lemon Cheese Cake

I have no idea why this cake is called Lemon Cheese Cake. It has nothing to do with Cheesecake. I guess it’s because the filling is like lemon cheese. The filling is really gorgeous – intensely lemony! I loved it.

I used 8 inch cake pans because I wanted the height, but you could also use 9 inch cake pans. It keeps very well in the fridge for up to a week but it didn’t last that long at my home. If you love lemons, then you will probably like to try this out. I am definitely going to make it again. It’s easy and delicious. Perfect for a summer afternoon.

This recipe is from American Cooking.

PREP: 30 minutes COOK TIME: 1 hour

Ingredients

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

31/3 cup flour, sifted

2 tsp baking powder

Pinch of salt

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

8 egg whites

Filling

8 egg yolks, beaten

1 cup lemon juice

5 tbsp flour

21/2 cups sugar

115 gms butter (¼ lb)

½ cup hot water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 165 C. Grease and flour three 8 inch cake pans.

Beat the egg whites until they are stiff and stand in peaks.

Cream butter and sugar together until it is light and fluffy. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add a third of the flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternating with a third of the milk. Beat well. Repeat this process twice until all the flour and milk has been incorporated, beating after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Spoon the batter into the tins and level the surface gently. Bake for 30 – 40 minutes until the cake tests done. Cool the layers thoroughly and remove from the pans.

To make the filling, beat all the ingredients together with ½ cup hot water together. Cook in a double boiler, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens and is of spreading consistency. Cool and spread between the layers of the cake. Dust with caster sugar on the top.