I feel like this recipe is classic, and not trendy. These tartlets are the stereotypical catering or banquet dessert you would find in a gala or at a golf club buffet. A perfectly round tart with a lemon filling and a meringue, torched on top. Or a dessert with cut up berries on top of it. This is literally both of those things. When I was a summer intern for a golf club, I definitely saw tartlets that looked like these, be it lemon-meringue or with pastry cream and sliced up berries, on our Sunday morning brunch buffet set-up. Yet, as much as I am crapping on how not-modern a lemon meringue or fruit tartlet is, here I am, doing a dessert just like it. I love doing modern and unique desserts, but this dessert ultimately is a nod to my upbringing in food, more specifically, as a kitchen intern at a golf club It almost felt like I was traveling back in time, whenever I worked at a kitchen that was not a stand-alone restaurant(a term meaning a restaurant that is not attached to another facility like a tennis or golf club or a hotel). And by back in time, I really just mean my early childhood, when fine-dining wasn’t as exposed to everyone, so these pre-packaged wholesaler desserts from companies such as Sysco or Aramark were what us suburban folk deemed as “fancy”. Yes, times have changed, but memories don’t, and cute little lemon meringue and berry tarts are what bring me back to simpler moments in my life where my biggest worry was what dessert from the buffet line I could eat next before my mom starred nagging me about eating too many sugary and buttery things. All this to say, these dinky little lemon-strawberry-meringue tarts are my Ratatouille apple pie moment. Embarrassingly enough to admit.

What is nice about a super simple dessert like this is that you can’t really hide behind anything. The tart shells need to be baked properly, the lemon curd needs to be the right consistently, as with the jam, and the meringue needs to be whipped correctly and torched nicely or else the dessert reads way too sweet. With the components, we have a tart shell made with a shortbread dough, a strawberry jam, a lemon curd, a French meringue that is kissed with a blowtorch, and a glazed strawberry to finish. It really is THAT old-school buffet dessert that you would finish a long meal of all-you-can-eat prime rib with just so that you can somewhat get your money’s worth. Papa didn’t raise no chump when it came to targeting the right items in a buffet line. Always proteins and things with fresh fruit on top. That sidenote into my hilarious childhood, these tarts are very summery, invoking the flavor profile of both a lemon meringue pie, as well as strawberry lemonade. They take me back to my very Americanized childhood, but in a safe space where I don’t have to be judged for being the one Asian person in a room full of non-Asians. Or being the one Asian who could speak English, and either having to choose between being friends with the non-English speaking Asians or the non-Asian English speakers because you were stuck being the bridge between the two, yet neither side would just try to accept one another. Okay, now enough about my weird, socially stressful childhood. As you tell, young Fred had a lot to deal with, between navigating the political climate of a very divisive school environment, as well as sneakily eating as many contraband desserts as possible without his health-nut mother(whom he loves very much) catching on. Long tangent aside, you too can feel nostalgic to simpler times too by eating these tartlets!

Makes 12 tartlets:
For the shortbread:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix ingredients together until a homogenous dough forms. Chill down the dough for 10 minutes, then on a floured surface, roll it out to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut out 4-inch disks of the dough, and score each disk with a fork, poking the center of each disk 2-3 times. Flip a standard 12-tin cupcake mold upside down, and spray the backs of each divot with cooking spray. Align the center of each dough disk with each divot. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Allow the dough to fully cool before gently unmolding from the cupcake tins. Store the shells in an airtight container.

For the strawberry jam:
1/4 cup strawberries, hulled and pureed
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
a pinch of salt

In a pot, heat up the ingredients on low heat, while stirring, for 10-15 minutes. The end product should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Allow the jam to cool down before using.

For the lemon curd:
Juice and zest from 2 lemons
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a pot, heat up the lemon juice and zest. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, cornstarch, sugar, and salt. Pour half of the lemon juice over the egg yolks while whisking. Then pour the lemon juice-egg yolk mixture back into the pot with the remaining lemon juice and whisk on low heat for 2-4 minutes, until the mixture begins to cling to the sides of your whisk. Pass the lemon curd through a sieve to remove any lumps and mix in the butter and vanilla to finish. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until time to use.

For the French meringue:
1 egg white
2 tbsp granulated sugar
a pinch of cream of tartar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Whip everything together until the egg white forms stiff peaks. Transfer to a piping bag.

To garnish:
3 fresh strawberries
strawberry jam

Hull and quarter the strawberries. Toss with a little of the jam, just to coat the exterior of each berry. This will prevent them from drying out. Fill each baked tart shell with equal parts jam and lemon curd and level off the tops. Pipe on half of the tarts the meringue, and torch with a blowtorch. Garnish the other half with the sliver of strawberry to finish.