Lemon tart

Finally I managed to make my first pastry , as I dreaded this to make like the breads. It looks very laborious to make but it's not. I have a lot of lemons and I don't want it just to go to waste what with the recessions going around the world. I usually buy lemons for making the vinaigrette for the salad and for marinades. Since it's for Christmas, I decide to go through with my tart for a change.

As what Rachel's said, this lemon tart is really light and creamy, and not quite as heavy and intense as other lemon tart you can find, but wonderfully fresh and tasty----YUM!.





I don't have a removable base tart pan, so I used my glass pie plate instead. Upon handling the baked pastry it breaks, so the outcome of it was not pretty. It's also gave me a hard time in removing the whole tart into a serving plate. The shots I have with this lemon tart is not so clear as maybe its the effect of the light and I also have to learn a lot about photography.



Lemon Tart
adapted from Rachel's Food for Living

FOR THE PASTRY
175 g flour
⅛ tsp salt
100 g butter (chilled)
25 g sugar
1 egg, divided

FOR THE FILLING
3 eggs
125 g granulated sugar
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
100 ml double cream


1. First make the pastry, which can be done a day in advance of filling and serving. Sieve the flour and salt into a large bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes and rub into the flour until the mixture is like crumbs. Add the sugar and gently mix in with a fork. Drizzle in the egg yolk and lightly stir it into the mixture with a knife until the mixture sticks. If the mixture does not come together, add 1-2 teaspoons of water. Roll out the pastry into a round about 2cm thick, then cover and chill for at least 45 minutes in the fridge.

2. Preheat the oven to 190°C(375°F). Grease a 23cm(9in) shallow tart tin with a removable base with a little butter.

3. When you are ready to roll out the pastry, remove it from the fridge. Place the pastry between two sheets of the cling film, which should be larger than your tart tin. Using the rolling pin, roll out the pastry until it's about ⅛in thick and large enough to line the base and sides of the prepared tin. Make sure to keep it round, if the tin is round, and large enough to line the base and sides of the tin. Remove the top layer of the film and place the pastry upside down (cling film facing up)in the tart tin. Presss into the edges, cling film still attached and, using your thumb, 'cut' teh pastry on the edge of the tin to give a neat finish. Remove the cling film and pop the pastry in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.

4. Nest, 'blind bake' the pastry case. Blind baking is a way of partially cooking a pastry case before adding its filling. Line the pastry with greaseproof paper when cold (leaving plenty to come up the sides), fill with baking beans or dried pulses (you can use this over and over), and bake for 15-20 minutes in the oven, until the pastry feels dry. Remove the paper and beans, brush with a little egg white and return to oven and put to one side while you prepare the filling.

5. Lower the heat 9or heat to this temperature if filling the case the next day) to 120°C(250°F).

6. To make the filling, place the eggs and sugar in a medium-sized bowl and, using the electric mixer, whisk until pale and creamy (about 10 minutes). You can also do this in a food processor. Add the lemon juice and zest and mix for another 5 minutes, then pour in the cream and mix for a further 5 minutes. Carefully pour the filling has just set in the center.

7. Remove from the oven, allow to cool for about 10 minutes before removing the tart from the tin and transferring to a plate or cake stand. When it's cool, dredge icing sugar over the top, and cut into slices and serve.