Big Mama’s Lemon-Lime Tassies
Filled with citrus curd and made in tiny muffin pans, these lemon-lime tassie cookies are tart, sweet, and just plain delicious.
Lemon-Lime Tassie Cookies
Photo Credit : Mark Fleming | Styling by Catrine KeltyLemon-lime tassie cookies recipe and memories from the Brass Sisters, Marilynn and Sheila.
We received this very old Southern recipe for tassie cookies in an email from a reader named Amy Geer. “Big Mama” was Ethel Johnson Geer, who was married to Amy’s grandfather, Judge William I. Geer, and lived in Colquitt, Georgia. Most recipes for lemon tassies use a dough made with cream cheese, but we decided to use Sheila’s piecrust instead. These dear little “tarts” filled with citrus curd are made in tiny muffin pans and are a delicious mouthful.
Yield:
about 2 dozen tassies (plus 1 1/2 cups lemon-lime curd)For the filling
Ingredients
1 large egg
4 large egg yolks
3/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of table salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
Citrus peel garnish (see note, below)
Whipped cream (optional)
Instructions
First, make the filling: Whisk the egg and egg yolks in a 2- or 3-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the sugar, salt, and lemon and lime zests, and whisk to combine. Whisk in the lemon and lime juices. Add the butter and whisk over medium heat until it has melted. Switch to a wooden spoon and continue to cook, stirring, until the curd thickens, about 5 minutes. (If you prefer a smooth curd, strain it to remove the zests.) Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Let the curd cool completely and keep it refrigerated.
For the pastry shells
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2 tablespoons ice water
Instructions
Next, make the pastry shells: Put the flour, sugar, and salt into the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, and pulse three times to mix. Add the butter and pulse until crumbly. Add the ice water and pulse until mixture comes together. Remove the dough and shape it into a disk.
Set an oven rack to the middle position. Have a 24-cup miniature muffin pan at the ready (you can also use two 12-cup pans).
Roll out the dough between two sheets of lightly floured wax paper to a thickness of 1⁄8 inch (you can also simply roll out the dough on a floured counter). Using a 2 1/2-inch round or scalloped cookie cutter dipped in flour, cut out rounds of dough, gathering the scraps together and rerolling as needed. Place the rounds into the muffin cups and gently press into the wells. Refrigerate for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 400°. Bake the tassie shells until golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes, turning the pan midway through cooking. Remove from oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Place the cooled shells on a platter and fill with lemon-lime curd. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with citrus “dots” and serve with whipped cream, if desired. Refrigerate leftover tassie cookies and use any additional filling to spoon over yogurt, serve on pancakes, or stir into whipped cream.
