Bite-Sized Treats

A good lemon mousse is a favorite for many, and it's a refreshing summer dessert all by itself, or adorned with some fresh berries. To dress it up, you can bake up a batch of meringue shells or small pastry shells, either in standard or mini muffin tins, and use the sweet, creamy mixture to fill them for a more fancy dessert. Mini tart shells are easy to make, if you have a 24-cup mini muffin tin and a little time. You can use a basic pie pastry or a cookie crust, but it needs to be sturdy enough to not crumble to pieces when pried out with a knife. The tartlets shown are a buttery cookie crust (every one stayed intact when removed), lemon curd folded with whipped cream, and a fresh juicy Oregon raspberry. Large piping tips can be found at Michaels or any cake decorating supply store; get the biggest you can find, or just use a teaspoon and dollop it in the baked shells.

Lemon Mousse Tartlets

The mousse can also be used as a delicious cake filling, especially when dotted with fresh raspberries.

1 stick (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup, plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2-3 tbsp canola oil

3/4 cup prepared lemon curd*

1/2 cup cold whipping cream

2 tbsp powdered sugar

24 fresh raspberries (or blueberries, strawberries, springs of fresh mint, or strips of candied lemon peel)

Beat together the butter and sugar until a smooth paste forms. Beat in the flour until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Drizzle oil over, adding more as necessary, until dough just begins to cling and hold when pressed together.

Divide between 24 mini muffin cups (or 12 standard size), rolling into balls the size of small walnuts. Use a tart press (a wooden dowel-like tool) or your fingers to press the dough evenly across the bottoms and up the sides of each cup. Place in the refigerator to chill while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake 10-12 minutes, or until just lightly browned around the edges. The dough may puff up, but you can easily press it back down using the tart press (or by wearing clean rubber gloves to protect your fingers). Cool completely in the pan. Remove by gently sliding a knife between the edge of the pastry and the tin; each should pop out easily.

Whip the cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the lemon curd. Pipe or dollop into each tartlet and garnish as desired. This treat will hold for a few hours in the fridge, if necessary.

Makes 24 bite-sized tartlets.

*To make Lemon Curd from scratch: Stir together 1/2 cup sugar and 1-2 tbsp corn starch (depending on how thick you want it to be, more for a cake filling, less to fold into whipped cream) in a saucepan. Add 3 beaten egg yolks, 1/3 cup water, 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, and 1 tsp lemon zest. Whisk well, then heat over medium until thickened and bubbly. Strain immediately, cover with plastic, and chill until needed.