In a small bowl combine cake flour, almond flour, and salt. Stir to combine. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla bean paste (see note), and almond extract and beat to combine.
With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly to form a disc. Wrap the disc in plastic and refrigerate 2-3 hours (or freeze 30 minutes).
Grease six tartlet pans (see note) and set aside. After chilling, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to about ⅛" thick. Line each of the pans with the pastry, taking care not to stretch the dough as you do so. (Pastry scraps may be gathered and re-rolled as needed.) Place crusts on a baking sheet and freeze 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350° F. Leaving the tartlets on the baking sheet, bake 15-20 minutes. Pastry will appear dry and very slightly browned. (If you're making a large, 8"-9" tart, it will need to bake for 25-30 minutes.) Allow crusts to cool completely.
For Curd:
In the bowl of a food processor, puree the strawberries. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the puree of all the pulp and seeds.
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and egg yolks. Whisk to combine. Add lemon juice and strained strawberry puree and whisk to combine.
Over medium heat, cook the mixture until thickened, 8-10 minutes. Add the butter, a few pieces at a time, allowing the butter to melt into the curd before adding more. Allow curd to chill in the refrigerator until it is chilled through.
For Meringue:
Combine egg white and sugar in a heatproof bowl.
Bring a small pot of water to a simmer, placing the heatproof bowl on top. Be sure that the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl.
Cook, whisking often, until sugar has dissolved completely.
Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whip on high speed until stiff peaks form and mixture is no longer hot to the touch.
Add vanilla paste (see note) and whip to combine, about one more minute. Transfer meringue to a piping bag, if desired.
Assembly:
Fill cooled tartlet crusts with chilled strawberry curd.
Pipe meringue on top of curd, if desired, or dollop it on with a spoon. Toast meringue with torch or broiler (see note). I also garnished my tartlets with fresh strawberries and sliced almonds.Enjoy!
Notes
Note on cake flour: You can substitute the cake flour with all-purpose flour if that's all you have on-hand, but the crust won't be as tender!Note on vanilla bean paste: It's no secret that I LOVE this ingredient! Easier/cheaper than buying whole beans and tastier than extract (or at least I think so)! If you don't have vanilla bean paste, you can find it [here]. If you prefer to substitute, you can use vanilla extract.Note on tartlet pans: I used six 4" tartlet pans with removeable bottoms (like these [here]). You could make one large 8" or 9" tart with this same recipe, you will just need to increase the bake time for the crust (details in the recipe). Note on toasting meringue: I use a kitchen torch to toast my meringue. If you don't have a torch, you can put the tartlets under the broiler, just don't take your eyes off them for a second! I prefer the torch, since it gives more control over the toasting, and I prefer that the curd stay as chilled as possible! My torch is old so I don't even know what kind it is, but this one (link [here]) has great reviews.