When the weather isn’t singing summer, bring that yellow zing into the kitchen with these Lemon Drizzle Pop Tarts. They’re like little pockets of sunshine.
Contrary to popular 90’s belief pop tarts are more than just a breakfast treat. In fact they actually make the perfect portable dessert so are great for picnics and snacks on the go.
These little pie pockets bring back such nostalgic memories of my childhood, but given I have now grown up I thought the flavours deserved a little growing up too.
It may not seem like it right now *seriously is this August?!* but it’s picnic season and as I’m heading to one in a few weeks I wanted to test run some baking options that I’ll be bringing along. The brief for any picnic food is that is has to be;
a) Portable
b) Easy to eat
c) Require very little in way of cutlery or crockery
My mind immediately turned to pop tarts, but my palate wanted lemon drizzle loaf so I decided “well there’s a challenge I’ll combine the two”.
My equipment of choice was easy as I had some brand new Tala bakeware just screaming to be used. Using their newest range of Performance Bakeware and Indigo and Ivory range equipment I set straight to work.
Believe it or not I’ve never owned a flour shaker. It’s always felt easier to just scatter the flour myself but oh how I was wrong, you can now call me an official flour sifter convert. The Tala Indigo and Ivory Flour Sifter distributes the flour perfectly and with it’s vintage look it makes me feel like my Great Nanna back in the 1940’s.
Plus, the non-stick coating meant I didn’t have to caress my pin with flour, because we all know what that ends up looking like.
I also picked up a new rolling pin and was equally delighted with the Tala Non-Stick one. With it’s soft grip handles and a roll that separately rotates I was able to roll out the dough so much easier than with my old wooden one. Plus, the non-stick coating meant I didn’t have to caress my pin with flour, because we all know what that ends up looking like.
Cutting out the dough is probably the only chore of the entire bake but you don’t need to be perfectionists about it so as long as they’re approximately the same size it’s fine.
If it’s a particularly hot day or your hands are warm, you may find that you need to chill your dough again once the rectangles have been cut out and lay on the baking tray. If you notice your dough is a bit greasy, pop it back in the fridge for 15/30 minutes to allow the butter to harden up a bit more before baking.
If I could choose homemade over shop bought I’d do it every time because the rustic hand made look of these tarts is just beauty to me, plus the taste is worlds apart from the foil packets I used to eat.
The buttery pastry complements the sharpness of the curd perfectly, the same way it does with a lemon meringue pie, but the zingy icing that’s then drizzled on top signifies it as that lemon drizzle flavour we all know and love.
For more about Tala Cooking Bakewear head to their website where you will find full directory of all their ranges, plus more baking inspiration.
LOVE LEMON BAKES? TRY THESE
If you make these delicious homemade pop tarts, make sure to tag me @mykitchendrawer on Instagram! I love seeing my recipes come to life fresh from your own kitchen drawers. Happy baking!
Lemon Drizzle Pop Tart Pockets
Ingredients
For the sweet pastry
- 240 g plain flour
- 200 g unsalted butter cut into squares
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tbsp water
For the lemon curd filling
- 1 lemon zested and juiced
- 50 g caster sugar
- 25 g butter
- 1 egg
Lemon glaze topping
- 200 g icing sugar
- 4 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
For the lemon Curd
- Add the sugar, butter, egg, lemon juice and zest to a pan and heat gently until its all melted together. Stir the mixutre consistently over a medium heat until it begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon.
- When thick, pass the mixture through a sieve and leave the mixture to cool further. It will thicken more as it cools.
For the pastry
- Put the flour and butter together into a large bowl and break the butter up into the flour using a pastry blender. Continue until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs
- Beat together 1 egg and 1tbsp water, then gradually add in 2 tablespoons of this mix to the flour butter mix until you have a dough that come together. Knead it together for a few moments, then bring into a disk shape, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 160C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out onto a lightly floured surface until you have a large rectangle.
- Cut each sheet into six rectangles 6cm x 10cm, then bring the excess dough together and roll out and cut into six more.
- Lay out the rectangles onto to baking sheet, then taking two rectangles in turn, brush one entirely with egg and spoon about 1 tbsp of lemon curd.
- Sandwich the two pieces together and use a fork to press the edges together to seal. Brush egg wash across the top and prick the centre with a fork to allow steam to escape. Repeat with remaining rectangles until you have 6 tarts, then put into the oven and bake for 20 minutes until golden.
- Once baked, remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack while you make the icing topping.
Lemon glaze topping
- For the glaze topping, combine the icing sugar and lemon juice until you have an icing that’s a thick enough consistency to top onto the tarts and spread without it running off.
- Spread the icing onto of the cooled tarts then top with some lemon zest
- The tarts will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Excellent read, I just passed this onto a friend who was doing some research on that. And he just bought me lunch since I found it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Thanks for lunch!