Mini Lemon Pavlovas

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300F. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or with a handheld mixer, whisk egg whites and lemon juice on medium speed until frothy and opaque white. Slowly whisk in sugar and continue to whisk on medium-high until stiff peaks form. Fold in lemon zest.
2. Spoon the meringues onto a parchment or silicone-lined baking sheet in 8 evenly sized circles, keeping them 1 inch apart. Use a spoon to flatten each meringue so that there are no peaks. Bake in the lower half of oven until dried very lightly browned, 40-45 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, make the lemon curd. In a saucepan, combine lemon juice, zest, sugar and yolks. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened, 5-7 minutes. Note: it won't be as thick as the final product at this point but will coat the back of a spoon.
4. Strain the curd through a fine mesh sieve and into a clean bowl, to discard any solids (aka scrambled eggs). Whisk in butter until melted. Cover surface of curd with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming and place in fridge to cool.
5. When meringues and curd have cooled completely, break the top of the meringues slightly, fill with lemon curd and top with a dollop of cream and sprinkle of lemon zest. Enjoy!