LEMON TART

One bite of this tart will turn you into a Lemon-lover!!!  Starting the TART month with this dessert that has lemon crust filled with lemon filing called Lemon Tart!!  It’s lemons everywhere!!

This tart is an amazingly true Lemon tart.  It has lemon zest in the crust which makes it taste amazing and adds an extra oomph to the crust.  It also has lemon zest and lemon juice in the filling.   There are recipes that uses lemon extract in tarts but I like the natural taste of lemon zest and lemon juice better.  I like how this recipe uses the lemon zest in both crust and filling.  It does add more taste to it than just a plain crust.

add This recipe uses a lot of lemon juice.  I use to squeeze them one by one using a reamer.  Man, it does a number on your hands!  It is a good workout, though!  ?  Now if you are a lemon lover or if you make a lot of lemon desserts, I would recommend getting a juicer.  I hesitated buying this one because I thought I wouldn’t use it as much.  But after I bought it, I thought “Where have you been all my life?!?!”  It’ so easy to use, easy to clean, and you can get the juices in less time.

Instead of the usual stand mixer, this time we are going to use the food processor.  Mix together the butter, flour, powdered sugar and lemon zest into the bowl and pulse until it is a breadcrumb consistency.

Slowly add the egg yolk while the machine is on.  Pulse again for about 5 times.

Turn the machine on and add a tablespoon at a time of the ice water.  Remember it’s not just cold water, but cold water with ice cubes in it.  You want to add a tablespoon at time and see how the dough comes together.  I added 2 tablespoons however you can add another teaspoon to make it come into a ball.

Once it comes together, lightly flour a clean surface and shape the dough into 2 discs.

Wrap the crust with a plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for about 15 minutes.  This recipe makes 2 tart crust and 2 filling.  I like recipes like this because it means I’ll have a stash of ready to make dessert in my fridge!! ?

I found that this dough is really soft and it’s hard to roll out like a pie crust.  So I just gently shape the dough into the tart pan that has a removable bottom.

The next step is to blind bake the tart.  This is a step that is usually used for tarts or pies to avoid having a soggy bottom.  It’s really easy to do!!  Take some aluminum foil that is a little bit bigger than the tart and gently shape it around the tart.  I use 4 cups of uncooked rice (I’m Asian, y’all!! I always have rice! ?) or you can use pie weights or dry beans.   This weight will also prevent the crust from puffing up.

After 10 minutes, you want to take the foil and the rice out and bake it again for another 10 minutes.  In this step, I don’t usually take the whole tart out of the oven and take out the foil and rice.  I just moved the tart a little bit to the front and grab the foil and rice while the tart is still inside.  The foil won’t be too hot to touch.

When it’s done, take the tart shell out and set it aside for a few minutes.  This is when you make the filling.  In a saucepan, heat up the cream and sugar until bubbles from on the sides.  Take it off the heat.  We don’t want to boil so please stay close and watch this mixture.  In a stand mixer, add egg yolk, lemon juice and lemon zest.   Slowly drizzle the cream mixture while the machine is one.

Strain out the lemon filling into a glass measuring bowl.  Using the bowl that has a pouring lip will help in the next step.

Put the crust back in the oven.  With the measuring glass, slowly pour the filling into the tart.  The first time I made this, I poured the filling while the crust was still on my kitchen table.  But it was such a balancing job moving it into the oven that I decided that pouring it into the oven is probably safer that trying the balance a filled tart.  Bake for another 20-30 minutes until the tart looks set but the center still jiggles.

After it’s baked, you want to let it cool at room temperature before chilling it in the fridge.  Cool in the refrigerator for a few hours so that It will firm up.  To serve this, sprinkle some powdered sugar on top and cut a nice hefty slice of the lemon tart to go with your afternoon tea!  Mmmm …  Lemonyyyyyy!!!

Tips for making this Lemon Tart :

• This recipe is for 2 tarts.
• Be careful when you are pouring the lemon filling into the crust so that it does not overflow.

Happy Baking!!!