Snixy Kitchen

A Bay Area gluten-free food blog with original seasonal recipes

Hibiscus Strawberry Curd Tarts with Toasted Meringue {gluten-free}

Pin
Share
Tweet

Hibiscus Strawberry Curd Tarts with Toasted Meringue {gluten-free} | Snixy Kitchen

The first time I made this hibiscus strawberry curd tart, I took the last little tart over to our neighbors to thank them for the various eggs, butter, and cups of sugar they’re constantly lending me. Ulterior motive: to resist eating two tarts in one day.

Only they didn’t answer their door.

So I ate that “extra” tart as soon as I walked back in my house. I wasn’t even hungry. I reasoned that I was saving it from an ant attack if I left it on their porch. I could have put it in the fridge and tried again later, but I just couldn’t take it staring at me any longer. This tart has the sweetest puppy dog eyes you just can’t turn down.

Hibiscus Sugar | Snixy KitchenHibiscus Sugar | Snixy Kitchen

I served that first version of these tartlets when our friends came for dinner last weekend. As often happens in our house, they showed up while I was still taking pictures and I showed them this sugar shot above (channeling Alanna’s captivating steam pictures). As soon as one of them asked what it was, the second instantly chimed in, “smoke, duh.”

Only it’s not. It’s sugar! Fooled ya!

Same thing happened when I was 10 years old and the police questioned my friends and I for smoking candy cigarettes and drinking soda out of our dad’s old beer bottles on the side of the road just down from our campsite. (This is totally normal, guys. <— I have to say that too often…) For some reason I don’t think the cops of today would have just tasted our “beer” and let us on carry on our shenanigans with a “Gotchya!”

Did you know that when you food process sugar, it puffs like a cloud of smoke? So realistic that you might think somehow a cup of sugar made your food processor overheat causing you to rip the cord from the wall likety-split. (Not that I would know…)

Hibiscus Strawberry Curd | Snixy Kitchen

To taste test hibiscus’s impact on this filling, I made the strawberry curd two ways – one with hibiscus and one without. The results were fascinating – hibiscus has flower power. Not only does it give the curd multiple flavor notes – sweet strawberry with a tart citrus hint on top – but it imparts a Barbie pink hue.

Without hibiscus, the strawberry curd tasted like, well, strawberries, but the egg yolks made it look like muted hummus. And nobody wants to eat a sweet hummus tart.

Gluten-free Almond Tart Crust | Snixy KitchenHibiscus Strawberry Curd Tart with Toasted Meringue {gluten-free} | Snixy KitchenHibiscus Strawberry Curd Tart with Toasted Meringue {gluten-free} | Snixy Kitchen

For Hibiscus Strawberry Curd Tart 2.0, I swapped out an overly tart hibiscus Chantilly cream for a light and airy toasted meringue. I left for a dinner party before I could take a tartlet to the neighbors, but texted Lucas, “Can you take the tart in the fridge next door?”

This way I wouldn’t be the one to accidentally eat it if they didn’t answer their door. Again.

(They answered…as if they were holding out for the final recipe.)

Hibiscus Strawberry Curd Tart with Toasted Meringue {gluten-free} | Snixy KitchenHibiscus Strawberry Curd Tart with Toasted Meringue {gluten-free} | Snixy Kitchen

These dainty pink treats taste like a toasted lemon meringue tart with sweet strawberry notes. Swirled inside a crumbly gluten-free almond crust with a heavy dose of glossy meringue plopped on top and toasted, this hibiscus strawberry curd tart will steal your heart. And your willpower.

Hibiscus Strawberry Curd Tart with Toasted Meringue {gluten-free} | Snixy KitchenThanks for reading Snixy Kitchen! To stay up on what’s coming out of my kitchen,  follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Bloglovin’, or Pinterest, or subscribe via e-mail to get new recipes right to your inbox.

Print
Hibiscus Strawberry Curd Tart with Toasted Meringue {gluten-free}
Author: 
Yields: Four 5-inch tartlets or one 8" or 9" tart
 
Ingredients
Gluten-free Almond Crust
Hibiscus Strawberry Curd
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1½ tablespoons dried hibiscus
  • ¾ cup strawberry purée, strained (from about ¾lb of strawberries)
  • 3 whole eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons lime juice (from 2-3 limes)
  • 2 teaspoons lime zest (from 1 lime)
  • 2 teaspoons corn starch, sifted
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes
Toasted Meringue
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
  • ¾ cup caster sugar or powdered sugar
Instructions
Gluten-free Almond Crust
  1. Place all flours, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine.
  2. Add butter cubes and pulse until dough begins to clump together. (This might take a few minutes - it will appear dry at first, but it will eventually clump into a coarse meal).
  3. Divide dough between four tartlet pans with removable bottoms (or one large tart pan) and use your fingers to press dough evenly in bottom of pan and up sides.
  4. Freeze crust for 15 minutes while you prepare the hibiscus strawberry curd.
  5. Bake 350°F for 15-17 minutes, until it begins to turn golden brown. Use the back of a spoon to gently press crust down to make it flat it. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before removing them from the pans.
Hibiscus Strawberry Curd
  1. Pulse sugar and dried hibiscus in a food processor until hibiscus is finely ground.
  2. Prepare a double broiler, or fit a heat proof bowl over a large pot filled with an inch of simmering water.
  3. In the heat proof bowl, combine hibiscus sugar, strawberry purée, eggs, egg yolks, lime juice, lime zest, and corn starch. Whisk to combine.
  4. With stove on medium-high heat, cook, whisking continuously, until mixture thickens and reaches 170°F on thermometer, about 4-5 minutes.
  5. Remove bowl from heat and strain curd through a fine metal strainer to remove any pieces of cooked egg or hibiscus.
  6. Add butter and whisk to melt and combine.
  7. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate while you bake the crusts.
  8. When the crusts have cooled, divide the curd among the four prepared crusts, using a rubber spatula to spread it evenly. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or up to 1 day) before serving.
  9. Just before serving, prepare meringue (recipe below).
Toasted Meringue
  1. Wipe the bowl of your stand mixer to make sure it is super clean.
  2. Add egg whites and cream of tartar and whisk on medium speed until it begins to foam and holds soft peaks.
  3. Add sugar, one spoonful at a time, and whisk on high speed until stiff glossy peaks form. Check to make sure the sugar has dissolved by rubbing a bit of meringue between your finger tips to make sure it's not gritty. If it is, keep whisking until sugar dissolves. The meringue is done when you hold a spoonful upside down and nothing drips.
  4. Transfer meringue to a piping bag with a wide round tip and pipe meringue on top of each curd-filled tartlet, or if you don't have a piping bag, spoon the meringue directly onto the tarts.
  5. Use a kitchen torch to lightly toast the meringue. (If you don't have a kitchen torch, you can place the tarts under the broiler for 2- 4 minutes, watching carefully until just toasted).
Notes
*I grind my own oat flour by pulsing gluten-free oats in the blender or food processor until fine, then sifting out any large pieces.

Pin
Share
Tweet
Snixy Kitchen

SUBSCRIBE NOW

get free recipes straight to your inbox:

Reader Interactions

You may also enjoy:

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie à la Mode Popsicles #popsicles #strawberrypie #recipe #rhubarb
Strawberry Rhubarb Pie à la Mode Popsicles
Blackberry Hibiscus Spritzer with Tarragon #mocktail #recipe #hibiscus
Blackberry Hibiscus Spritzer with Tarragon
Gluten-Free Strawberry Thyme Balsamic Galettes
Gluten-Free Strawberry Balsamic & Thyme Galettes
Chocolate Matcha Cream Tarts
Chocolate Matcha Cream Tarts

47 Comments

  1. So, so gorgeous!!! I wish I could taste one of these. I love hibiscus, but have never used it in baking yet (but I love hibiscus cocktails, ha!).

    And the smoke effect is so real! Same thing happens when you process dehydrated berries in there ;) Pink smoke!

    Reply

  2. Just STUNNING, Sarah! Hibiscus is one of my favorite flavors and I love that you put it in a curd! Ugh, I just can’t get over how beautiful these are. They could be served at a wedding!

    Reply

    • Wow – that’s such a big compliment! My friend DID just ask me to make a dessert for her wedding table so maybe I should make bite-sized versions of these!

      Reply

  3. I would like to be your neighbor, please and thank you! These photos are just gorgeous, I can’t get over that gif you have up there. Also, that pink color is calling to me, so I need to get some hibiscus into my desserts, ASAP.

    Reply

  4. Dear Sarah, I don’t blame you for keeping the other tart! …I would love to be your neighbor!!

    Beautiful photos…I really love that shot of the sugar. Pinned for later. xo, Catherine

    Reply

  5. Hehe… sweet hummus tart! No doubt! So the hibiscus… what a genius way to incorporate a lovely dried flowers to your tart! I can see doing this with chamomile and other dried flowers. Love this, Sarah; so smart! Beautiful post, from start to finish. That pink smoke is quite a capture and that GIF! I’m just drooling…. drooling. You’re always an inspiration to me!

    Reply

    • A chamomile lemon tart would be INCREDIBLE (can you do it and then bring a tart to me please?) Thank you so much for your sweet words as always, Traci! Your comments always brighten my day <3

      Reply

  6. I think I need to be your neighbor. Then again, I’m thinking I probably wouldn’t make the best neighbor because I always eat everything I make. O.O I need to learn to share. Gorgeous photos, as always. That sugar smoke picture is all kinds of awesome. I got stuck on it for a bit, just mesmerized. I think I’ve only had hibiscus and strawberry together in drinks before, but I imagine it makes an awesome tart filling!

    Reply

    • I think you need to be my neighbor too! Then we can make fancy lunches all day every day. Thank you so much Joy! I’d also only ever had hibiscus in drinks before, but it’s such an amazing flavor that I’ve been infusing it into everything these days.

      Reply

    • I think they’d survive the mail just about the same way as that puppy I sent….

      So maybe you should enjoy the puppy and tarts next time you come visit? ;)

      Reply

  11. Mmmm yes yes yes!!! Hibiscus is so amazing and unique! I added it to a cookie recipe in the past but now that I know better, it tastes much better when it’s not whole and “leafy” and stale+chewy in the dessert. So the fact that you processed the hibiscus is a great idea. ^_~

    I was surprised when a few weeks ago I ran out of confectioner sugar and ground white sugar instead (didn’t produce same results), I was coughing from all the “smoke” it produced. Crazy stuff! It’s fun though, and it makes you feel like a cartoon witch stirring a cauldron, hah!

    Reply

    • Hibiscus cookies?! Do you have my address? Because I’d eat so many of those. I also JUST found hibiscus POWDER a couple of days ago at a natural foods store down the street (THAT I DIDN’T KNOW EXISTED!). Can we make hibiscus shortbread from the hibiscus powder?!?!

      Reply

  12. Your hibiscus strawberry curd tarts with toasted meringue are so beautiful and delicious looking! Plus they are the perfection distraction to my time-consuming paper haha. Really interesting that you used hibiscus; I am a big fan of hibiscus tea (in Thailand we have a great variation of hibiscus tea called Roselle) but never thought to use it in cooking before. Very creative!

    Reply

    • Oh gosh – You’re almost done with that paper, yeah?! You can do itttt! (But also you should totally take a break to make a hibiscus tart. You deserve it:)

      Reply

  13. This looks so yummy! love the combination of hibiscus with the strawberries, bet it tastes as good as it looks. Pinned!

    Reply

  14. So gorgeous! I have made strawberry curd and it was so good–I’m trying to imagine it with hibiscus. I have a hibiscus plant so maybe I could dry some flowers from that!

    I’m also adding this to my list of reasons someone should buy me a kitchen torch for my birthday.

    Reply

    • Woah! I’m jealous that you have a hibiscus plant – I called all the local flower shops to try to find fresh hibiscus and they all laughed at me for thinking I’d find it in bloom right now.

      (Also – someone buy Becky a kitchen torch!!)

      Reply

  15. YES, I love it when the sugar creates clouds of smoke when I open the lid! Oh my gosh, if I were your neighbor, I would make sure that I’m at the house ALL the time. In case you stop by to unload your goodies, of course. I love the addition of hibiscus flavors in this!

    Reply

  16. I LOVE love love love love this post. And LOL to so much of it. I’ve definitely done the, ‘I will take this to the neighbors but since they’re not home, I guess I should eat it’ thing a few too many times. But if my tarts looked like this, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have even thought of the neighbors. Barbie pink for the win!!

    Reply

  18. Love the color of this tart. I’ve never made strawberry curd, the addition of hibiscus seems so perfect. Have to try them!

    Reply

  21. Strawberry and hibiscus are a great flavor combination, especially in tarts. The almonds make the crust light and healthy, too. I like to top my tarts with whipped cream.

    Reply

  23. magnificent looking tarts, I can nearly taste them. I will try strawberry curd, never made this one, but like blackcurrant for punchy flavour. I have recentry converted to use buckwheat crust, it is amazing in frangipane and lemon tarts.. Thanks for the recipe. Fabulous photos!!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *