Another one for the lemon addicts and a very easy recipe. There are many versions of this classic French pastry. Some chefs use more sugar, some more cream, etc. This particular recipe is on the tart side because that is how I love it. Tweak it to suit your taste if necessary.
Start by making your pastry.
1 cup very cold butter cut into small cubes
2 ½ cups flour
½ tsp salt
1/3 – ½ cup ice water (Only enough to make a dough form.)
Using a food processor or a pastry blender cut cold butter into flour and salt until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Small pieces of butter should still be visible. Pour cold water over the mixture and work in by tossing with a fork until dough begins to form. Use your hands as little as possible and work the dough as little as possible.
Divide dough into 2 balls, flatten into 2 rounds, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rest for a minimum of 20 minutes.You can make your dough the previous day but make sure you take it out of the fridge for 10 minutes to warm slightly before rolling out.
Roll the dough into a 12 inch round and place in the bottom of a 10 inch pie plate. You will need to blind bake this bottom crust before adding the filling. Blind baking is essential so that the bottom crust will not get soggy.
To blind bake a crust, simply place a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil over the dough and cover the bottom of the pie plate with baking weights. (Marbles, dry beans, peas, rice or barley work just as well as anything else.) Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 -15 minutes. Remove baking weights and parchment (or foil).Bake for an additional 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
Using a food processor or a pastry blender cut cold butter into flour and salt until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Small pieces of butter should still be visible. Pour cold water over the mixture and work in by tossing with a fork until dough begins to form. Use your hands as little as possible and work the dough as little as possible.
Divide dough into 2 balls, flatten into 2 rounds, wrap in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to rest for a minimum of 20 minutes.You can make your dough the previous day but make sure you take it out of the fridge for 10 minutes to warm slightly before rolling out.
Roll the dough into a 12 inch round and place in the bottom of a 10 inch pie plate. You will need to blind bake this bottom crust before adding the filling. Blind baking is essential so that the bottom crust will not get soggy.
To blind bake a crust, simply place a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil over the dough and cover the bottom of the pie plate with baking weights. (Marbles, dry beans, peas, rice or barley work just as well as anything else.) Bake at 400 degrees for about 12 -15 minutes. Remove baking weights and parchment (or foil).Bake for an additional 5 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
Lemon Filling
3 large lemons, juice and zest
5 eggs
¾ cup sugar
1 cup whipping cream
3 large lemons, juice and zest
5 eggs
¾ cup sugar
1 cup whipping cream
First, finely zest 3 large lemons (or 4 small) and then chop this zest very fine. Squeeze all the juice from the lemons, straining it to remove all the pits.
Whisk together the sugar and eggs. Add juice zest and cream. Whisk together until sugar is completely dissolved. Bake tart at 300 degrees F for about an hour or until filling is just set.
Cool slightly, then dust the top of the tart with icing sugar. Using a torch, brown the sugar evenly over the top of the tart. Alternatively, protect the crust edges with aluminum foil and brown the sugar by placing the tart on a low rack under the broiler until desired color is reached. Cool completely before serving.
NOTE: If you have too much lemon custard filling for your pie shell, you can pour it into greased ramekins and bake along with the tart. You can top these with some blueberry compote and serve warm.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Tell us what you think of this photo or recipe, especially if you've made it! We love your feedback!!