This lemon tart is at once so intensely rich and lemony it makes all other pies or tarts pale in comparison. Lemon tart is an elegant dessert for a special evening.
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TARTE AU CITRON
350 g (12 oz / 3 cups) all-purpose flour
a small pinch of sea salt
150 g (5 1/2 oz) chopped unsalted butter
150 g (5 1/2 oz / scant l cup) icing confectioners’ sugar
2 eggs beaten
Sift the flour and salt onto a work surface and make a well in the centre. Put the butter into the well and work, using your fingertips and thumb, until it is very soft.
Add sugar and mix together. Make a well in the centre and add eggs and mix together.
Gradually incorporate the flour, flicking it onto the butter mixture and then chopping through it until you have a rough dough. Bring together with your hands and then knead a few times to make a smooth dough. Roll into a ball and pat down a little.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour ( or more if you’re busy doing something else).
Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F/gas5). Take the pastry out of the refrigerator and let it sit for ten minutes. Warming your pastry a little will make it easier to roll out. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to line a 10 inch round loose-based fluted tart tin. Refrigerate for around 20 minutes. If you find the pastry a little crumbly you can roll it between two sheets of waxed paper.
Line the pastry shell with a crumpled piece of parchment paper and fill with baking beads (use dried beans or rice you don’t have beads). Blind bake the pastry for 10 minutes, remove the paper and the beads and bake for a further 3-5 minutes, or until the pastry is just cooked but still very pale. It is at this point you watch your pastry and if the base starts to balloon up give it a few pokes with a fork to deflate it. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 150°C (300° f/gas 2)
FILLING:
4 large size eggs
2 large size egg yolks
275 g (9 3/4 oz) super fine (berry) sugar
190 ml (6 1/2 fl oz) thick (double/heavy/whipping) cream
275 ml (9 1/2 fl oz) lemon juice (you’ll use at least 6 lemons if they are small)
3 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
(I must admit that at this point on Christmas Eve I forgot to write down alternative measurements for everything in the filling. I hope you’ll be able to figure it out.)
To make the filling, whisk together the eggs and egg yolks and sugar. Add the cream, whisking constantly, then add the lemon juice and zest and whisk to combine well.
Put your pastry shell on a baking tray and carefully pour the filling into the pastry case. You should avoid over-filling the crust. Any extra filling can be poured into a ramken and baked in a water bath.
Return the pastry to the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the filling has barely set. Leave to cool completely before serving. Do not refrigerate. Now enjoy a taste of Paris.
| TARTE AU CITRON ... lemon tart ... I can't believe I'm not in Paris | Print |
- Pastry:
- 350 g (12 oz / 3 cups) all-purpose flour
- a small pinch of sea salt
- 150 g (5½ oz) chopped unsalted butter
- 150 g (5½ oz / scant l cup) icing confectioners' sugar
- 2 eggs beaten
- FILLING:
- 4 large size eggs
- 2 large size egg yolks
- 275 g (9¾ oz) super fine (berry) sugar
- 190 ml (6½ fl oz) thick (double/heavy/whipping) cream
- 275 ml (9½ fl oz) lemon juice (you'll use at least 6 lemons if they are small)
- 3 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
- Sift the flour and salt onto a work surface and make a well in the centre. Put the butter into the well and work, using your fingertips and thumb, until it is very soft.
- Add sugar and mix together. Make a well in the centre and add eggs and mix together.
- Gradually incorporate the flour, flicking it onto the butter mixture and then chopping through it until you have a rough dough. Bring together with your hands and then knead a few times to make a smooth dough. Roll into a ball and pat down a little.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour ( or more if you're busy doing something else).
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F/gas5). Take the pastry out of the refrigerator and let it sit for ten minutes. Warming your pastry a little will make it easier to roll out. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to line a 10 inch round loose-based fluted tart tin. Refrigerate for around 20 minutes. If you find the pastry a little crumbly you can roll it between two sheets of waxed paper.
- Line the pastry shell with a crumpled piece of parchment paper and fill with baking beads (use dried beans or rice you don't have beads). Blind bake the pastry for 10 minutes, remove the paper and the beads and bake for a further 3-5 minutes, or until the pastry is just cooked but still very pale. It is at this point you watch your pastry and if the base starts to balloon up give it a few pokes with a fork to deflate it. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 150°C (300° f/gas 2)
- Filling:
- To make the filling, whisk together the eggs and egg yolks and sugar. Add the cream, whisking constantly, then add the lemon juice and zest and whisk to combine well.
- Put your pastry shell on a baking tray and carefully pour the filling into the pastry case. You should avoid over-filling the crust. Any extra filling can be poured into a ramken and baked in a water bath.
- Return the pastry to the oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the filling has barely set. Leave to cool completely before serving. Do not refrigerate. Now enjoy a taste of Paris.
