Lemon Tart
Whilst I was munching on cookies with my sister, she mentioned that her favourite baked good when was out for coffee with friends was lemon tarts.
Here I break from the story to make a note that Melbourne is based on a coffee culture. There are cafes on every street, people walk around with coffee cups (which AREN’T from Starbucks), and it is very much a part of our culture and way of life here. As part of the coffee culture, comes the baked stuff. Every cafe stocks a variety of baked goods - friands, muffins, cookies, and a variety of cakes which are often served with whipped cream or ice cream.
At any rate, I remember one of my co-workers mentioning that Stephanie Alexander’s “A Cook’s Companion” had a wonderful recipe for lemon tart, so I thought I’d give it a try.
Ingredients (adapted from Stephanie Alexander)
Shortcrust Pastry
200g plain flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
100g cold, unsalted butter
1 egg
1 tsp water
Blend flour, salt, sugar and butter in a food processor to resemble breadcrumbs. Lightly mix egg and water and add to food processor whilst it’s running. As soon as the pastry begins to form a ball, stop the machine, scoop out the dough, wrap in plastic wrap and press into a flattish disc. Chill in fridge for an hour. Remove, roll out pastry and line tin. Trim the edges and chill again for 1 hour before baking.
Filling
6 eggs
250g caster sugar
Grated zest and juice of 2 large lemons
200ml cream
Pure icing sugar
1. Blind bake pastry at 200 degrees C for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and reset it to 160 degrees C.
2. Cream eggs and sugar, then add zest and juice and mix well. Add cream and mix again. Pour into the pastry case and bake for 35-45 minutes until almost set.
3. Cool in tin for at least 30 minutes before serving - leaving it in the fridge helps it to set/solidify even more.
I got a froth on my filling mixture when I was mixing it, and unfortunately it didn’t disappear in the baking process, but became this weird white layer. Had absolutely no impact on the flavour, but it did make it look quite strange. Must remember to scoop off the froth next time.
The original recipe called for the zest and juice of 3 large lemons, but I found that the tart is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too…uh…tart. The tart was devoured with lots of vanilla ice cream which was a great pairing, but next time I’ll only use 2 lemons as I think that’ll amply provide the citrus flavour required.
Technorati Tags: lemon tart, citrus, stephanie alexander, recipe, custard
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Comments
Ellie I think it looked a little odd…and also resulted in my mother almost sticking her finger into the tart as soon as she saw it, saying “Hey, what’s that white stuff?”
What is it with my family (including myself) and sticking fingers into things which have just completed the cooking process? I’m surprised none of us are yet to lose a finger!
I heart lemon deserts.. yet I’ve never made a lemon tart.. thanks for the recipe and the heads up about the froth.. although to me the frothy layer doesn’t look bad at all.