I have close to zero emotional attachment to physical objects.
My friends and family will tell you I tend to be the least sentimental person in the room. So I find it strange that I had such love for my Mini Cooper, which we sold last Friday to make room for a car that’s sensible for people with a baby. This post is a tribute to my yellow Mini, which I loved dearly for 6 years.
I realize how ridiculous this sounds. Almost as ridiculous as I felt all those years wearing my yellow coat in the spring and driving the car. For the record, I bought the coat in 2007 and the car in 2009, so it wasn’t planned. I’m not that big of a weirdo. But man, I do hold on to good things for a while.
The Mini was the first car I bought right out of college, after I had gotten an offer for my first job. On paper, I did the reasonable thing and compared the Mini with other cars. In reality, I wasn’t interested in anything else.
I remember my dad came with me to test drive the car and even he was enamored after just 15 minutes. That was all the corroboration I needed.
Sure, having a tiny car in Madison winter may not seem like the most logical choice, but the Mini held her own. Of course I couldn’t take her out in a huge storm, but she was safe to drive and I never had any accidents.
When Jason and I found out we were having a baby, we knew the car situation was something that would need to be addressed (he also drives a small two door coupe). I had quite some time to ease into the fact that my Mini would be going away.
In November, we finally purchased the most practical car I can ever imagine myself driving: a Subaru Forester. It’s about double the size of the Mini, drives great, has four wheel drive, and is incredibly safe.
But I wasn’t going to go down so easy. There were a couple of demands, including making sure the car had a manual transmission. I’ve driven manuals all my life, and if I had to give up the Mini, I at least was going to keep that. Call me crazy.
Because of this one little request, we actually didn’t get our car until this past Friday, which means I had plenty of time to say good-bye to the Mini. And so I started brainstorming a food-appropriate tribute to her. These mini Meyer lemon tarts was what I came up with.
Even though she’s gone, my infatuation with tiny things lives on. And that’s a good thing, because I believe I’ll be getting a new one very soon. Cheers!
- 1⅔ cup all purpose flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces.
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 teaspoons cold water
- 5 ounces cream cheese
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup juice from Meyer lemons
- 1 tablespoon Meyer lemon zest, grated
- powdered sugar, optional
- Using an electric mixer, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter and mix until it resembles small pebbles. Add in egg yolks and vanilla. With mixer on low, add in cold water, one teaspoon at a time, until dough forms.
- Knead dough with your hands a couple of times to fully combine. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.
- When ready, preheat oven to 400F. Generously butter a 24-cup mini muffin tin.
- Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to ¼ inch thick.
- Using a 2½ inch cookie cutter or glass, cut out 24 circles. Press dough into muffin tin and prick with a fork along the bottom.
- Top each muffin cup with a small piece of foil and some pie weights. Alternatively, you can use dry beans to weigh down the dough.
- Bake for 10 minutes, remove pie weights and foil, and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes, until crusts are golden brown. Let crusts cool.
- Reduce oven to 350F.
- Using an electric mixer or food processor, whip together cream cheese, sugar, and eggs. Add in lemon juice and zest and beat until fully combined.
- Once crusts have cooled, spoon in filling to the top of the crust. If you have extra filling, you can pour it into small ramekins and bake separately.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until filling has set.
- Remove from oven, let cool for 15 minutes, then remove tarts from muffin tin. Let cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve cold.
Awe bye bye mini :( You will love the size of your new vehicle. Especially with little ones. More room for messes! Lovely tarts by the way!
writes Kathleen @ Yummy CrumbleHa, thanks Kathleen – everyone keeps reminding me of the messes and sleep deprivation :)
writes VickyWhat gorgeous tarts! They look so moorish and addictive.. I definitely could polish off many of these right now.
writes Thalia @ butter and briocheI think 3 of these = a normal size dessert, right?
writes Vicky