Chef Dana Herbert. Photo courtesy of Dana Herbert

From: Chef Dana Herbert, Desserts by Dana, New Castle, DE. Chef Dana Herbert is winner of  Season 1 of TLC’s Cake Boss: The Next Great Baker. Yield: 8 mini tarts.

123 Tart Dough (about 8 4” tarts):
2 oz. sugar
4 oz. unsalted butter, room temperature
1 egg
6 oz. flour, sifted
pinch of salt
1 tsp. vanilla (or extract of your choice)
optional: 1 tsp. citrus zest, scrapings from ½ vanilla bean, ¼ tsp. nutmeg
as needed, powdered sugar for rolling

Lemon Curd Tart:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup butter or margarine, melted
3 Tbsp. grated lemon peel

For tart dough: Preheat oven to 350°F. For one large tart, use pan with removable bottom. With a mixer, cream together sugar, butter and salt. Add egg and mix. Add in flour at lowest speed and mix another minute or two. Knead lightly by hand against sides of bowl until smooth dough forms. Roll out dough right away or flatten into a disk. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours. When ready to roll, dust counter and dough surface lightly with powdered sugar. Roll dough out to ¼” thickness. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes.

For tart filling: In top of a double boiler, beat eggs and sugar. Stir in lemon juice and lemon peel. Cook over simmering water for 15 minutes, or until thickened.