Week 11 - Tart au Citron

The was part of the last meal I had with company before the Covid 19 virus took over, and I'm so glad I made this for dessert. It was a happy coincidence but it turns out this is one of my mothers favourite desserts. She last had it in Paris and fell in love with it instantly. She tells me she has tried to replicate the tart she had many times but its never measured up. Biting into the dessert I made, she said it was like being in that little cafe in Paris all over again, I was so pleased to hear!

I found it a pretty easy dessert to make, although the recipe instructed me to roll out the dough, I ended up just pressing the pastry into the pan instead. The one difficult thing about this dessert is it takes up 9 eggs in total, so its not an inexpensive dessert in the end.

I have mentioned before that I'm not a huge fan of citrus, so when I say this is a fresh and delicious dessert, you can take that to the bank! I found it tart, but not overly so. It was a perfect refreshing dish to finish off our big pasta dinner. I will definitely be making this again, if only when it is easier to find eggs at the grocery store again.

I hope everyone is staying safe out there, staying home and washing you hands!

Final Rating: 9.9/10

Ingredients

For the Pastry

1 egg
1 cup soft butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
1/2 tsp fine salt
2 3/4 cup all purpose flour

For the Lemon Curd Filling

8 eggs
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
5 large lemons, juiced (1 cup juice)

Instructions

To make the pastry, first separate the egg. You will only need the yolk. In a large bowl, beat the butter until it is very soft and smooth. Next add the egg yolk, vanilla, sugar and salt. Beat together until evenly combined and creamy. Sift in the flour, than work it into the creamed mixture until you have a clumpy but evenly mixed dough, with hardly any dry flour left at the bottom of the bowl.

Turn out the dough onto the work surface and squish it together to make a smooth ball. It will seem soft, even a bit sticky. Shape into 2 equal disks, then wrap in plastic wrap. Chill one piece  for at least 30 min and reserve the other for another time. It can be frozen for up to one month.

Preheat the oven to 400℉ and use the pastry to line a 9-inch fluted tart pan. Before rolling, flour the work surface and rolling pin. Press shallow ridges across the pastry, then rotate it by a quarter turn. Repeat this until the pastry is about 1/2 inch thick. If any cracks do appear, pinch them together.

Now roll out the pastry to a circle. Roll the pin evenly over the pastry until it is large enough to line the pan with a 1 inch overhang. Gently press into the pan and trim extra pastry away. Prick the base all over with a fork, going right down to the metal. Lift onto a baking sheet and chill for 10 minutes in the freezer until hard.

When ready to bake, line the pastry with a sheet of foil making sure all the edges are covered. Baking for 15-20 minutes, or until the pastry looks set and is fairly dry underneath the foil. Remove the tinfoil and turn the oven down to 375℉. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until the bottom of the pastry is pale gold and feels sandy.

While the pastry is baking, make the filling. Separate 4 eggs. Beat them with the 4 whole eggs in a large bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces, and put in a heavy based pan with the sugar and lemon juice. Gently melt the butter and sugar into the lemon juice. Once melted, begin to whisk the eggs with one hand and simultaneously pour the hot lemon mixture onto them with the other. Pour slowly at first so that the eggs don't scramble.

Return the mixture to the pan and cook it over medium heat for 3-5 min, or until thickened and smooth. Try to avoid letting it boil and keep stirring all the time. Pour the lemon curd into the cooked pastry shell, then bake again for 5 minutes to help the curd set. Transfer the tart to a cooling rack, let cool completely then chill until ready to serve.