Mini Lemon Petal Pies

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3 Tbsp. corn starch
• 4 Large FARMHOUSE EGGS® yolks
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. finely grated lemon zest
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spoon & leveled)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
• 3/4 cup vegetable shortening, chilled
• 1/2 cup ice water
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Preparation

1. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter and shortening in a bowl until it resembles coarse meal. A few big bits are ok!
2. Pour 1/2 cup water into a cup. Add ice. Stir to get the water chilly. From that, measure of water– since the ice has melted a bit and added to the total. Add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and stir with a wooden spoon to incorporate. You may not need the full 1/2 cup water, so add by tablespoons until Do not add any more water than you need to. The dough should start to clump, and you can begin to collect it and roll into a ball. Place pie dough on a floured work surface and knead for a minute until flour is incorporated and the dough forms a slightly sticky ball.
3. Divide dough into two balls and flatten into disks.
4. Cover each disk tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours. Lightly spray two mini muffin tins with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
5. Preheat the oven to 325° F and make sure rack is in the middle of your oven.
6. Using one crust at a time, roll on lightly floured work surface until about 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick.
7. Using a flower cookie cutter, cut out as many flowers as possible, re-rolling and cutting. Press flowers gently into muffin tin and let petals drape over top, so just a small section of the flower sits into muffin tin (creating a well).
8. Place muffin tins in the refrigerator to chill for about 15 minutes.

Remove muffin tins from the refrigerator and prick bottoms of shells with a fork. Place a mini muffin liner filled with beans in each muffin cup.
9. Bake the shells for 20 minutes, or until just barely brown. Let cool for 5 minutes, remove cups of beans.
10. Repeat with remaining dough.
11. For the lemon curd, place egg yolks in a bowl and set aside. Whisk together sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan.
12. Whisk in 1 cup of water and heat boil over medium heat, stirring often until mixture starts to thicken.
13. Add a ladleful of the hot sugar mixture to your egg yolks, whisking to incorporate. Next, pour the yolk mixture into the saucepan and continue whisking until well combined. Reduce heat to low, and continue whisking for 1 minute
14. Remove from heat and add the lemon zest, lemon juice and butter and whisk until combined.
15. Chill until slightly thickened.
16. Place lemon curd in a piping bag with a medium or large round tip. Pipe into cooled pie shells.
17. Top with powdered sugar using a sifter or fine mesh strainer.