Back in the 1970's, my friend, Selma Jones of Seaford, Virginia put a recipe in the Warwick Assembly of God Cookbook for "Lemon Chess Pie".
This is a southern pie made from staples in the kitchen. Now, Selma's very name absolutely drips of southern charm and believe me she has the accent to go with it! I got to see Selma a couple of years ago when she and her husband came to see me for a few minutes at the airport while I was waiting for my flight back to Colorado Springs. She was just as delightful as ever......
Did you know you can tell the great cookbooks by the food spilled on their covers? I know because I have used this cookbook for close the 30 years! Last year I originally did this post on my first blog at Word press but I am now re posting it here. I took Selma's pie recipe and changed it into Lemon Chess Afternoon Tea Tarts. They are very simple and you will love them!
To make the dough for the tarts: this will make 24 tarts: 2 cups sifted flour, 1 tsp salt, 3/4 cup Crisco, 5 Tb ice water
Combine all ingredients to make a nice dough in a medium bowl. I prefer to take a little dough and roll it into a ball in the palm of my hand and then press it into the mini muffin tin making sure the bottom of each tart is covered but not to thick.
The tart filling will fill 24 shells and I had enough left over to pour into 2 creme brulee dishes. The creme brulee dishes should stay in the oven 5 minutes longer than the tarts.
To make the tarts: 1 1/2 cups sugar (this can be reduced if you prefer), 1 Tb flour, 1 Tb cornmeal, 4 eggs, 1/4 cup melted butter,1/4 cup milk plus 2Tb fresh lemon juice and I added the zest of 2 lemons. Combine the sugar, flour, cornmeal and lemon zest in a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients and beat until blended. Pour into 24 (mini muffin) tart shells Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees- the tops will be golden.
I just put a dab of raspberry jam on each "after the fact" but you might put it on before baking. These tarts were so easy because more than likely you already have all the ingredients in your pantry.
