Here are some lemon tarts made straight from scratch, from the tart shell to the whipped cream on top. The quality of these photos do not motivate me to write any more about these.  But if you’re going to force me, I’ll fess up the ingredients.

Rolling out the pastry dough on a floury surface.

Make your own tart shell by putting 1 1/4 cup of unbleached flour, 3 tablespoons of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of salt into a food processor and then freeze it for about 30 minutes.  In the meantime, set aside 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter, and 1/4 cup of water.  Freeze those as well for about 15 minutes.  (By the way, most recipes call for vegetable shortening instead of olive oil but I do what I want…just like you can!).  Pulse the dry ingredients together in the food processor until you have the consistency of crumbs.  Then add the olive oil and butter and pulse again until well combined.  Add the ice water to the food processor and mix together until you get a dough.

Take the dough out and, on a floury surface, form it into a disc.  Wrap it in clear wrap and put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes.  On a floured surface, roll the dough out with a rolling pin until it’s thin (but not too thin that it breaks).

Lining the mini tart pan with the pastry dough.

Take the rolled out dough and put it into the tart pan.  I used mini fluted tart pans.  Carefully and with a light touch, press the dough into the mini tart pan and roll out the excess dough with the rolling pin.

Lima beans used to keep the pastry flour from puffing up.

Fill the tart shells with dried beans so that the pastry doesn’t puff up on you…I used lima beans.  Put the tarts in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

Poke holes in the tart shell with a fork.

After 1o minutes, you’re going to take out the tart shells, remove the beans, and poke little holes in it with a fork.  Put it back in the oven for another 15 minutes and voila, your tart shell is ready.  Now we’re ready to fill it!

While the mini tart shells are cooling, you can start working on your filling.  It’s very simple.  Whisk 4 whole eggs in a big bowl, add 2/3 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of sour cream and 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar.  Whisk everything together and pour it into the mini tart shells with a measuring cup.  Bake the mini tart shells in the oven at 325 degrees for about 15 – 18 minutes.  Now you’re ready to make the whipped cream.  Again, very simple.  Put 1 cup of cold heavy cream in a big bowl.  Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract and 2 tablespoons of light brown sugar.  Beat the mixture with a hand mixer until it becomes thick and makes a soft peak.  Your whipped cream is done.  See the final outcome below.