Lemon Tart

[Benito (Benny)]

Tomorrow is Pie Day 3.14, what do you have prepared to celebrate? Instead of a double crusted pie I decided to bake a tart today (Pie day minus 1 = 3.13 ). The lemons looked really good yesterday at the market so decided upon a lemon tart which uses a pate sucrée pasty.

I like an extra lemony and tart curd so my curd has a bit more lemon zest and a bit less sugar than I usually see in the lemon fillings in recipes.

For the pastry - pate sucrée

75g icing sugar
250g plain flour
125g butter
1 large egg, beaten (plus 1 large egg white, depending on consistency)

Put the icing sugar, flour and butter into a food processor and blitz to breadcrumbs. Continue to blitz, and gradually add the whole egg until the dough comes together. You may need to add a little more egg white. Form the dough into a little round, cover with clingfilm and rest in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Roll the dough out to 12” diameter between two sheets of parchment paper (keep one for later). Transfer to the tart pan. Dock the dough.

Chill it again for 30 minutes. Pre-heat your oven to 350F (180C) while the tart dough is chilling in the pan. When the oven is ready line the top of the crust with parchment paper and place pie weights or dried beans to keep the pie crust from puffing when baking.

Bake the pâte sucrée for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the parchment paper filled with weights and bake for 15 more minutes, until the edges of the crust are golden.

Set the tart shell aside to cool (still in the dish). Leave your oven on at 350F/180C.

In the meantime, make the lemon filling.

Grab a fine-mesh strainer before you start and have it ready within arm’s reach.

For the lemon filling :
1 cup (250ml) lemon juice (about 4 lg lemons)
Zest of 2.5 lemons (organic lemons)
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
1/4 tsp table salt
¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, cubed.
4 large eggs + 4 large egg yolks

In a medium saucepan (no heat yet), whisk together the lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, salt, egg yolks and eggs. Add the cubed butter and turn the heat to medium. Whisk slowly until the butter is all melted. Continue whisking steadily until the mixture thickens to a thin custard consistency. This took about 20 mins.

Immediately pass the lemon filling through the fine mesh strainer, directly into the tart shell. You may require a third hand to help get all the curd out of the pot into the strainer. Tap the tart on the counter a couple of times to eliminate air bubbles. Using an offset spatula (or back of a large spoon), smooth out the top of the filling. Bake the tart for 5-6 minutes, until the filling has slightly set and turned slightly deeper in color.

Set aside to cool for at least 30 minutes. Enjoy slightly warm or chilled.

[Benito (Benny)]

Next time I bake this I would give the pastry a bit longer in the oven after removing the pie weights. The bottom was done but I like a bit more colour on the bottom crust. This was even though I baked on my baking steel on the lowest rack.

The filling was sooo good though, nice and tart and not excessively sweet.

[evnpar]

Oh, Benny, you’re a man after my own heart as there isn’t anything I like better than a good fruit pie or tart. More lemon/less sugar sounds ideal and I’ll take the crust just as it it. Bravo!
Richard

[Fermentada (Melissa)]

Yuuuummmm!

I had egg yolks left from my midweek pavlova and actually considered making
a π day lemon tart too (!!)

I ended up using the yolks for peanut butter cookies in the end. A fingers-crossed substitution that worked fine.

I’m not sure I’ll make a pie for pie day at all now It depends on how many cookies I can give to my kids and their friends.

[Benito (Benny)]

@evnpar Richard my favorite desserts generally involve pastry and fruit so I think we’d get along and can be friends.

@Fermentada Melissa seeing the cookies you posted on IG I doubt you’ll have any trouble giving them to your kids’ friends and then baking a pie. You need to celebrate pie day, the best dessert in the world (IMHO).