Recipes, Sweet stuffMike PittsMarch 19, 2021Dessert, Lemon, pastry

Lemon Tart

Recipes, Sweet stuffMike PittsMarch 19, 2021Dessert, Lemon, pastry

A mouth-melting lemon tart is such a restaurant classic and such a great way to bring joy to the palate after the rich, meaty meals we FatSteak Clubbers enjoy. Of course it is not slouch itself on richness! Quite the treat.

This recipe is a mix of a few I tried and gets excellent results.

Step 1 - The pastry

In the bowl of a food processor with the paddle attachment place the flour, sugar and salt.
Add the cold butter and pulse until just combined then add the beaten egg and pulse to a soft dough.
Top tip: be careful not to overwork the dough or the pastry will be tough.
Roll the pastry into a ball, wrap with cligfilm and chill for around an hour.

Lightly grease a tart tin (approx 22 - 25 cm diameter).
Flatten the unwrapped dough ball to a disc between two sheets of greaseproof paper, and carefully roll out flat to the size of the tin.
Lay the pastry in the tin, press into shape and trim the edges neat. Chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180 C.
Line the tart with one of the sheets of greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans.
Blind bake for 15 minutes (it should turn golden) then remove the beans and paper and bake for a further 5 minutes for an even finish.
Leave to cool slightly in the tin.

Step 2 - The filling

Preheat the oven to 120 C.
Put all the remaining ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a spatula.
In a pan slightly smaller than the bowl, pour water to a third of the way up and bring to the boil. Place the bowl on top of the pan and keep the water at a simmer.
Stir continuously while the mixture warms and when it reaches 62 C (ideally check with a thermometer but this will the point it starts to thicken) strain through a fine sieve into a clean jug.
Place the tart case in the oven to warm and after a few minutes pull it out on the oven rack and pour in the filling mixture to the very top of the case.
Carefully slide back and bake for 25 minutes, or until the filling is 70 C.
Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.