crostatina al limone meringata / lemon meringue tartlet

It's that time of the month when the Daring Bakers reveal to the worldwide blogosphere to what good use they put their multifarious skills, industriousness, inventiveness and, last but not least, their sense of humor.

Last Saturday was the day I had decided the deed would be done. The weather helped me by sending a steady rain that made staying inside a desirable option. The recipe chosen by Jen, The Canadian Baker, for the January challenge was lemon meringue pie, but an allowed alternative to the traditional pie was to make free-style tartlets (crostatine), according to a recipe by David Lebovitz, and that's what I did.

Right from the start, I knew this would be a challenge for me, because two previous encounters with this dessert - as an eater rather than a maker - have not left pleasant memories behind. However, that was not a good excuse, and in any case I was interested in making the experience: "Come what come may, Time and the hour runs through the roughest day," as Macbeth says.

Everything went satisfactorily until it was time to assemble the crostatine. My filling was not dense enough, which meant that the first tablespoon that I mounded in the center of a crostatina, based on the written instructions, signaled very clearly that it had no intention of staying put, and rushed towards the edges that provided no barrier to its fluid movement. I quickly spooned the filling back into the captivity of the pan and, after reading the instructions again and verifying that they specified to shape the dough into disks, i.e., flat surfaces, I switched into damage-control mode.

I decided to ask the thick meringue (meringa) for help in preventing the filling from escaping from its flat Alcatraz. As shown in the photo, I built a retaining wall of meringue before mounding the filling in the center of the island, as instructed.

This prevention measure did not work satisfactorily right away: in my first crostatina, the filling was able to outwit me and ran towards freedom. I am happy to report that the other crostatine behaved better, at least until it was time to relocate them from the baking sheet to a plate. In a couple of cases, the meringue touched the parchment paper I used to line the baking sheet, a touch that became a seal after the sojourn in the oven. I had to gently but firmly separate the twain, with, in one case, regrettable consequences (should I call it a security breach?), of which the unruly filling immediately took advantage.      

I had a lot of fun squeezing the meringue from the Ziploc bag with a corner cut, my very first pastry bag. A blob of meringue erupting from the top and landing in the middle of my decorative pattern was a not-so-subtle reminder of the need to seal the bag before applying pressure to it. My sense of humor came handy at this point and made me chuckle instead of cry.

After making six crostatine, I had some leftover filling and meringue and decided to make a little crustless pie with them, using a container that would keep the filling securely in place. I still would like to know what I should have done to make the obtain a denser filling. If anybody has any suggestions to offer, please do.

After the crostatine reached the right temperature, I asked my husband to investigate the flavor of the result and report to me. He faithfully performed the task assigned to him and his verdict was: "I like it a lot!" The flattering feedback to my efforts was seconded by our kind dinner guest (and patient too, but that is a different story).

Make sure you use the Daring Bakers blogroll to guide you to look at the masterworks that were baked around the world by my fellow daring pie-makers.

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

crostatina al limone meringata

or launch the  crostatina al limone meringata  audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

Comments

[courtney]

Bravo! Im impressed that you attempted the free form.
I love he idea crustless pie you made .I would do that to cut back on the calories next time.

[Maryann]

Lots to learn on this challenge, eh? But it was delicious. Good job, Simona :)

[Michelle]

You did a wonderful job!

[DaviMack]

Beautiful! Good job!

[Iisha]

Looking great... good job.
Love the design on top.

Iisha

[Ivonne]

Brava, Simona! Le crostatine sono troppo carine!

[Judy]

I like your freestyle tarts. There is a more simple way to make the filling, using the same recipe even, and the results are more reliable.

[breadchick]

Wonderful job on your challenge this month!!

[Chris]

Great job, Simona!

[Dolores]

I love your rustic, old world crostatine. Great job!

[Christine]

Fabulous, delicious crostatine, Simona! I know because I got to eat one!

[Big Boys Oven]

the last one is so lovely and adorable!

[Rossella]

Great job! Recently I've added myself to Daring Bakers. Looking to your work I'm scared on how much I've to learn

[johanna]

sorry to hear that your LMP was a bit evasive, but you managed to do a beautiful job!

[Deborah]

It's good that you were able to laugh instead of cry when faced with problems!! They look great, and I love how you made it work!

[Marie]

I love the one in the little white dish, looks so beautiful! Nice job!

[Ashley]

I like the look of the meringue! Yum. I made free form tarts too and was scared the lemon curd wouldn't stay but thankfully for me it did. Great idea for how to keep the curd inside by putting a meringue barrier up!

[Lisa]

Crustless pies - great idea!

[fabdo]

Adoro la combinazione limone-meringa...e soprattutto le differenti strutture di questo dolce: morbido, denso della crema, friabile della frolla e croccantino della meringa! Gnammi! ^_^
Brava anche perchè non ti sei "persa di spirito" dopo lo straripamento! ;)

[sagari]

beautiful pieee

[baking history]

I especially like the crostatina you baked in the white ramekin, and the way you shaped the meringue on top. Beautiful!

[Lori Lynn]

If I didn't read your entire post, judging from the last pretty photo, I would have thought you were an expert at this...

[Simona]

Thanks everybody for the kind words. I think a sense of humor is really important in any endeavors, including the ones in the kitchen. My philosophy is trying to recover from failure (the computer scientist in me wants that), but if that is not possible, archive the accident under "lessons learned" and keep on smiling. It is often the case that the situation is not half as bad as we make it to be. I am planning to make this dessert again, with a few adjustments and when I do I will post about it.

[Deborah]

Looks like you had fun! Great pie!

[Jen Yu]

Wow, you are so diligent with this whole recipe! I am impressed :) I think your variations are great and I love the last one especially - it's so cute!

[Claire]

I love the crustless pie idea...though I loved the crust on this pie! Good job!

[katie]

It sounds like an interesting experience - particularly for someone who's not enraptured by Lemon Meringue...Love the way your meringue looks! I've never made one... probably never will. I'll make the lemon curd, though...and just eat that!

[Lisa]

I can remember making (trying to make?) meringue only once, and that was eons ago. This looks very good! I adore lemony desserts.

[Simona]

Thanks everybody. I like Italian crema better. You can add more lemon zest to give it zing. But then, certainly, it is a different dessert. For me the tricky thing about the meringue was that the line between not ready and burnt was easy to cross.