This recipe for lemon chess tarts combines two classic flavors: lemon and blueberry. The tarts are flavored with lemon juice and zest and are topped with blueberry cream made from crushed dried blueberries.
From Pie Recipe to Lemon Chess Tarts
Who doesn’t like eating their own little pie? This vintage chess pie recipe was updated to make individual mini pies, so having your pie and eating it too–is a pretty good description! I added blueberry cream to merge the classic flavors of lemon and blueberry. Then I placed edible pansies on each little pie because if you are going to eat the whole pie, why not enjoy a pretty one!
What is Chess Pie?
Chess Pie is traditionally made in a regular-sized pie shell with butter, sugar, flour, eggs, and usually a little cornmeal. It can be flavored with citrus flavors like lemon, lime, or orange for a tangy pie or chocolate, coconut, maple, pumpkin, or caramel for a decadent treat. But when you get right down to it, you can flavor it however you choose. Once I made a list of flavored chess pies and came up with 20 variations!
These lemon tarts have a cream cheese-based blueberry whipped cream, which would go well with these tarts even if you left out the lemon and made regular chess tarts.
How Did it Get its Name?
I don’t think anyone really knows how this pie got its name. That being said, many Southern U.S. regions have stories about how chess pie got named. All the stories are within the realm of possibility, and who’s to argue with chess pie legends?
Is Blueberry Whipped Cream Hard to Make?
This blueberry cream is easy to make, but whipping cream can be intimidating if you are not used to working with it. This cream uses freeze-dried ground blueberries for its taste and color. In addition, you can use blueberry powder (found online), crushed blueberries, or blueberry syrup. There are lots of ways to get blueberry flavor into cream.
How to Whip Cream for Lemon Chess Tarts
I whipped the cream using a mixer since this whipped cream contains cream cheese, but you can also use gadgets found in cooking stores and online designed just for whipping up plain cream and sugar. Some use nitrous oxide for whipping, and some use old-fashioned elbow grease! You can even whip cream in a canning jar with a lid by vigorously shaking it! You can also use a whisk and bowl to whip cream by hand. I prefer a hand or stand mixer, but when I need a small amount of cream, I use a jar or my manual whipper with a plunger that you repeatedly push until cream forms. No matter how you make the cream, use cold ingredients and a chilled whipping bowl.
Shortcuts for Lemon Chess Tarts
I used frozen tart shells for this recipe, but you can make your own crust with a favorite recipe. If you have small tart pans, you can also buy refrigerated store-bought crust and cut it to fit the tart pans.
You can use blueberry powder (found online) instead of freeze-dried blueberries. I recommend freeze-dried blueberries because they are easier to find in stores, whereas most blueberry powder is ordered online.
Other Recipes
If you like this recipe, here are some others you might like. Click on each name to link to them.
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 50 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 4 large eggs, beaten
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons cornmeal
- Pinch of salt
- 4 tablespoons cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 large lemons)
- Zest of lemons (finely grated)
- 10 frozen pie crust tarts (or your favorite pie crust in (10) 3-inch pie tins)
- 1/4 cup freeze-dried blueberries, ground
- 4 ounces cream cheese, cold
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup whipping cream, cold
- Chilled mixing bowl and beater
Ingredients
Tarts
Blueberry Cream
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- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Melt butter and set aside.
- In a blender or food processor, blend the eggs until smooth (about 10 seconds).
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, cornmeal, salt, cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest until well mixed.
- Slowly whisk in the melted butter.
- Pour pie filling into the unbaked tart shells.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack.
- In a food chopper or processor, add the blueberries and chop to a dust.
- In the cold mixing bowl, add the cream cheese, chopped blueberries, sugar, and vanilla. Beat on medium-high for about 3-4 minutes until smooth and creamy.
- Add the whipping cream and beat another minute or two until well incorporated into the cream cheese mixture.
- Add a dollop to each cooled tart just before serving.
Dutch Ann frozen pie tarts were used in this recipe.
You can buy freeze-dried blueberries at Trader Joeโs.ย They are not the same product as dried blueberries. The packaging will say freeze-dried and will be very lightweight.
You can also buy blueberry powder online here. You use about 2 tablespoons for this recipe.
You can substitute a 9-inch pie crust for the tarts. Bake at 350ยฐ for 30 minutes.