Fill the cups with lemon curd. There were some recipies for it on the cooking forum, or you can buy pre made lemon curd that is pretty good.

In fact, we did lemon and key lime cups last June at graduation. People loved them. They would stop pass by the serving table and the cups are just a bite, and then pass back by and sample another . . .

Thank you Susan. I am trying buffet this year for the first time. Their will be 12 of us, 4 young children, and 4 Dogs. I am trying to make it easier. I thought the little tarts on the buffet would be pretty. Have you ever used those mini phyllo? Do you bake them? I have some curd in the closet, so that is good. How do you do key lime? Maybe I could have both. And they would be pretty, wouldn't they.
Barb

I've never used phyllo dough but these little cookie tarts are awesome. I took them one year to a family gathering and they were the first to go.

Hawaiian Cookie Tarts

Cookies:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup butter; softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
Filling:
1 cup pineapple preserves
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups coconut
powdered sugar

Lightly measure flour in a large bowl and combine with powdered sugar and cornstarch; mix well. Add butter and vanilla with a spoon stir until soft dough forms. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place 1 in each of 36 ungreased miniature muffin cups; press in bottom and up sides of each cup.

Spoon 1 teaspoon preserves into each dough-lined cup. In a small bowl, combine sugar and egg; beat with fork until well blended. Add coconut; stir until well coated with egg mixture. Spoon one-teaspoon coconut mixture over preserves in each cup. Bake at 350 for 23 to 33 minutes or until cookie crust are very light golden brown. Cool in pans 20 minutes.

Release cookies from cups: Hold muffin pan upside down at an angle over wire rack. With handle of table knife, firmly tap bottom of each cup until cookie releases. Cool 15 minutes or until completely cooled. Sift powdered sugar over tarts. Beautiful! (Very good refrigerated.)
Good with orange marmalade also. Try using raspberry preserves along with finely chopped nuts instead of pineapple and coconut.

Lemon Filling for {{gwi:2051316}}
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest

Mix all ingredients well with an electric mixer. Pour into tart shells and bake.

{{gwi:2051317}}

Marilyn

Here are a couple of mini lemon tart recipes that I like. In both of these recipes the lemon filling is added to the tart shells after they are baked. I prefer a shortbread crust, but you could substitute your phyllo dough.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Shortbread crust

1 cup butter softened
1/2 cup icing sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon Cornstarch

Filling

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 Tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs well beaten
1/2 cups butter at room temperature
. Preheat oven to 325°F. Combine shortbread ingredients in the bowl of
an electric mixer. Mix to form dough. Divide dough into 24 pieces.
Pat each portion of dough into a 1 1/2" (4 cm) tart tin, using your
fingers to shape it into a shell. Prick the bottom of each tart with a
fork. Bake 10 minutes and then prick bottoms again as the shells puff
up. Bake an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow tarts
to cool on a wire rack before filling.

To prepare lemon filling, combine juice and zest in a double boiler.
Whisk in sugar, eggs and butter, blending well. Place over gently
boiling water and whisk constantly until mixture thickens. Cool before
using to fill tart shells. Lemon filling can be prepared ahead of time
and stored in the refrigerator.

(Note: I did not cook using a double boiler. I added the juice, zest,
sugar and butter to the pot and brought to a boil. Then I beat the
eggs and added some of the hot mixture to the eggs to temper before
adding this egg mixture to the pan. I continued to stir over low heat
until the mixture thickened.)

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

1 cup (227 grams) (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup (72 grams) powdered sugar

1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all purpose flour

1 tablespoon (15 grams) cornstarch or rice flour

CREAM CHEESE FILLING:

One 8-oz. (227 grams) package cream cheese - softened

1-14 ounce (396 grams) can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup (83 grams) lemon juice (freshly squeezed)

1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract

GARNISH:

Any combination of berries (blueberries, strawberries, raspberries) or other fruit such as slices of kiwi.

Note: Cornstarch (corn flour) or rice flour replaces some of the all purpose flour to produce a more delicate and fragile shortbread.

. FOR SHORTBREAD TARTS:

Lightly grease or spray with Pam 24 miniature muffin tins
(approximately 1 l/2 inches (3.75 cm) in diameter). Set aside.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (170 degrees C) and place rack in center
of oven.

In the bowl of your electric mixer cream the butter and sugar together
(approximately two minutes). Add the flour and cornstarch and mix just
until incorporated.

Divide dough into 24 even pieces and place one ball of dough in center
of each muffin tin. Bake for approximately 18 - 20 minutes or until
lightly browned. About halfway through baking time, lightly prick each
shortbread as they will have puffed up. Check again after another
five minutes and prick again if they have puffed up. Cool shortbread
in pan on a wire rack. When cool remove tarts from pan by using a
sharp knife. These are quite fragile so be careful when removing.
(These may be made in large quantities and frozen.)

CREAM CHEESE FILLING:

In food processor or electric mixer beat cream cheese until fluffy.
Add condensed milk, then lemon juice and vanilla. Process until
smooth.

Fill tart shells with cream cheese filling and refrigerate at least 2
hours before serving to allow flavors to blend. Just before serving
top with fresh cut up fruit.

Makes 24 mini tarts.

The tart shells can be made ahead and frozen. The cream filling can be
refrigerated for 4-5 days.

Adapted from The Best of Bridge Cookbook

livvy, if your phyllo crusts are baked, then just spoon some lemon/lime curd in. You could also mix the curd with whipped cream to make it lighter.

Marilyn, those Hawaiian cookies really look good. Printed and ready to make! The picture is a great selling point. They sound like ones that would be ideal for that Pampered Chef mini-masher. It looks like a tiny meat pounder if I recall, having been to only one PC party this lifetime.

I make them all the time in the summer. I fill mine with lemon pudding made with tofu, lower in fat than curd, but you can use that (yummy) or regular lemon pudding. Then I put on a dollop of homeade jam, but you can use store bought or fresh fruit. Garnish with fresh lemon rind if you're really big on presentation. If you use the phyllo cups like you buy in the store, eat all the tarts up because they will sog out if you try and keep them overnight or even all day. Not something to make the day before, but it takes maybe 15 min. to make up a tray fresh. I love 'em. I also love tarts with pie crust or tart crust, but phyllo with lowfat pudding fits in better with my low cal, lowfat lifestyle.

Check out this old thread from the Dessert Exchange. Some good curd recipes, including Roselin's Key Lime.

Thank you all. In the next couple of weeks I will be trying every recipe. I have several functions where I have to bring a dessert, and I think they would be pretty and delicious to bring.
For Thanksgiving, seeing the grandchildren have already arrived, I will bake the phyllo and just spoon in the curd. Running out of steam.

Sorry to come back so late! If you buy preshaped cups, you don't need to bake again. If you buy phylo sheets, then I have cut sheets into squares slightly larger than the cups, brush them lightly with butter and layer 3 or 4 sheets into the cups, pressing down lightly to form them to the shape. Alternate the angle you place the sheets into the cups to get a more decrative look. Then just follow baking directions (but watch carefully -- they over brown easily)!

Every time I make my own cups I consider turning the muffin (or mini muffin tin) over and shaping the cups that way. But I haven't done it yet! I have used this method to form (when I really am cheating!) slice and bake sugar cookies into cups, I just do a light spray of non-stick, slice the cookie dough, pat it over the back of the mini muffin cup and bake. I believe that the cookies probably don't need the non-stick, but when I use them; I'm in a hurry and the last thing I need to take time with is prying cookies off my muffin tins.

Good luck with whichever method you use.

Susan

Susan,
I like the idea of using the slice and bake sugar cookies as a cup. What ideas can you give me to fill them with? Thanks.

Sapphires

What you are describing is EXACTLY what we had at the Adobe Grand Villas in Sedona a few weeks ago.

The chef there, who is outstanding, took phyllo dough, and used a scalloped edged cookie cutter, or must have used a sharp edged scalloped cutter with a circle form to use as a model, and he cut out the phyllo dough into circles.

He then put them into pam sprayed mini cupcake/muffin tins, with the homemade tart sweet tangy lemon curd in them and baked them.

The Phyllo dough was cooked, but "just", and they were lightly crisp and wonderful. The lemon curd was delectible and cooked well, perfectly. I have no idea what temperature he baked them at.. but, my guess would be 350.

After they were done, he sprinkled them with powdered sugar and served them on silver trays.

They were garnished with a slice of fresh strawberry, a thin, but nice slice, not a half or third, more like a fourth or fifth of a berry's slice, laying right on top, with a tiny little basil leaf at the top.

The flavors of the tart lemon with the strawberry and basil was FANTASTIC!! Amazingly fantastic.

My husband would have never ever in a bazillion years eaten them had he known that was basil.. to him, basil is SAVORY and not a herb to mix with sweet.

And, he was almost embarrassing the way he gobbled them up!!

I wish I had taken a picture of them.. they were so pretty and so good.

He probably used three or four sheets of phyllo before cutting the circles.

And, I would guess you'd need to spray or butter the tins fairly well to get the phyllo to "stick" and stay in the muffin tins.

I don't know if you should try this the first time out for serving to guests, but give it a shot.

It looked fairly easy to me, and the results were incredible!!

Let me know if you try this!!

Also.. when I make Lemon Tassies.. I use the cream cheese dough and then load them with lemon filling. Yummie in the tummie and very, very easy. They are soft and moist and delicously rich.

The phyllo dough ones were far superior for light and crispy and wonderfully tart, tangy, and wonderful.

I make phyllo cups with muffin tins to fill with eggy cheesy mixes for a glam. breakfast that is actually super easy. It's not hard to work with the phyllo to shape it however you like. I use a pastry brush with oil, but I guess you could also use melted butter.

I have a friend who is french. Marie Claire fills phylo cups with everything from fresh fruit to shrimp scampi.

I have filled them with berries (pour a little glace over and they are really pretty), pudding, blood orange curd, key lime curd and lemon curd. Once years ago, I made pecan tassies and lemon curd tarts (found sugared violets to top the tarts with -- very pretty), for my DD's First Communion. The lemon tarts went faster than the pecan tassies, which I never thought would happen!

If you use the slice and bake cookies, slice the dough thin, and use a gentle hand shaping them.

Susan

Thank you all. I will use all these ideas this busy month. I am sure they will make a nice addition to everyone's dessert.
Barb