Lemon Tart

Pastry Ingredients:

  • 175g plain flour
  • 100g cold butter in small cubes
  • 25g icing sugar
  • 1 egg yolk + pinch salt
  • 1 tbsp cold water

Filling Ingredients:

  • 125ml free range eggs (2.5 eggs aprox)
  • 62.5ml double cream
  • 112gr caster sugar
  • Juice of 2 lemons (do a syrup with the zest)
  • icing sugar for dusting

Process

  • Start with the pastry. Rub the flour, butter and icing sugar until you get something like breadcrumbs. You shouldn’t have lumps of butter. Tip the bowl and check the surface.
  • Add the egg yolk and cold water. Form a dough, flat it a bit and wrap in cling film. Rest in fridge for 1h.
  • Pre-heat oven at 220C. Prepare a try with baking paper (just to cover the tin!) and the tin on it. The tin can be from 16 to 20cm diameter. The dough will cover all.
  • Take the pastry out of the fridge. With your fingers, bend the edges of the pastry as they will be hard due to the butter.
  • In a lightly dusted surface, roll the pastry with a pin. Add flour to the pin not the dough. Roll until you have 0.5cm thick (or so). Clean excess of flour.
  • Roll the dough with the pin and then lay it over the tin. Gently push the pastry into the tin with your fingers. Be sure there are not air pockets between the tin and the pastry.
  • Trim the top excess with the rolling pin. Then with your thumbs be sure the side of the tin are the same thickness with dough everywhere. Dont make it too thin!
  • With a knife, trim the top, be sure that cut is even.
  • With your thumbs nail, go through the top an separate a bit the pastry from the tin.
  • With cling film or baking paper, cover the pastry. Then fill the pastry with rice, beans or similar. Be sure it is properly full.
  • Bake for 20 minutes at 175C. Be sure the edges are golden brown.
  • Remove beans/rice and bake for 5-10 minutes until bottom is baked.
  • Remove from oven and leave to cool down.
  • Leave the oven at 120C
  • Prepare lemon filling. In a bowl, whisk sugar and lemon juice.
  • Add the eggs, mix with a spoon. DONT WHISK! You dont want bubbles.
  • Pour the cream and keep mixing with the spoon.
  • Pass the lemon mix through a strainer so the mix is super smooth and there are not bits of anything. You can taste it 🙂
  • Put the lemon in the mix if the base is not cool down.
  • Once the base is ready, put the tray half way in the oven so you can pour the lemon filling. Stir the filling before pouring if it was in the fridge!!!!
  • Pour slowly the filling, until it nearly reaches the top.
  • Bake for 25 minutes aprox at 120C.
  • Be sure the filling is set, just a slight wobble in the center, before removing from oven.
  • Let it rest for 15 minutes, remove the tin.
  • Dust the top with icing sugar.

This is the result!

Still the edges are not even…. but it is tasty 🙂

Stock Syrup:

  • 50% water
  • 50% sugar

Process

  • Mix water and sugar. Then heat until boil.
  • Add the lemon peel or any fruit peel you dont want to through away.
  • Let it at low heat for 30 minutes.
  • Remove from heat.
  • You can taste the syrup and even the peels!