Lemon Tart(s)

7/30/2019 Lemon Tart(s)

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Lemon Tart Recipe118 comments - 05.10.2009

Im happy to say that I finally got rid of the two eggs yolks in my freezer. They were packedtogether in plastic, then again in foiland of course, quickly forgotten as over the course of the next few months, got pushed further and further back into the morass that is otherwiseknow as mon conglateur .The other morning I woke up, and when I went to get an ice cube for my orange juice (oneof my perksI absolutely have to have an ice cube in my morning jus dorange ), everythingcame tumbling out. Long-forgotten flax seeds from a batch of seriously-healthy scones Idplanned to make, to six 2-cup containers of egg whites, plus a mysterious little foil-wrappedpacket whose name had been scraped off after months of being away by jagged crystalsof frost. It was like watching the last six months of baking projects crossing in front of myeyes, with a few things landing near my feet.
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/05/tart-au-citron-french-lemon-tart/#comments


2/15

So there I was, at 7:04 am, defrosting my freezer in my jammies, reliving my not-so-distantpast, taking everything out, and scraping out massive amounts of ice for the next hour orso.

In the freezer were two frozen baked tart shells from making Paules pastry dough , so Ilet one thaw and decided to make a tart. After all, making the dough is half the battle. AndId had enough fighting for one morning; the rest was easy.Later at the market, I found these lovely unsprayed lemons, which I used to make a quicklemon curd. After I squeezed their juices out (one had remarkably adept aim, btwright inthe old il gauche ), I cooked the juice on the stovetop with lots of the fragrant zest, nottoo much sugar, those long-forgotten yolks, and poured the warm filling into the gloriously-ready tart shell.

Because the filling is quite tart, it makes a modest layer of filling, rather than a big pile o curd. Which, come to think of it, doesnt sound so appetizing, does it? I prefer that, becauseI dont like overly-rich desserts and you can confidently eat a wedge of tart and not feel badabout it afterward. (Its the simplest way to cut the calories of a dessert in half; just eat aportion half the size. Simple, non? )

One could pipe whipped cream on it or top it with meringue, although I wanted tokeep it pure and bought some seemingly just-picked raspberries to strew over the top.Unfortunately, they were so good, they didnt make it to the finish and the tart, nor myguests, ever saw a single berry. Gulp!So I killed two birds with one stone: I got rid of those two yolks once and for all, and usedup one of the two tart shells in the freezer. Now I just need to figure out what Im going todo with all that empty space in my freezer. But Im sure it wont last long.In fact
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2009/05/french_tart_dough_a_la_francaise.html


3/15

Lemon TartOne 9-inch (23 cm) tartThis makes a modest, but very tasty lemony layer. If you want more filling, feel free todouble the recipe; any filling that you dont use can be spread on toast, fresh biscuits, or

scones.You could substitute fresh lime juice for the lemon and if you have Meyer lemons, reduce thesugar to 1/3 cup (65g). You can use a favorite tart dough recipe, or the one Ive linked to.1/2 cup (125 ml) freshly-squeezed lemon juicegrated zest of one lemon, preferably unsprayed1/2 cup (100 g) sugar6 tablespoons (85 g) butter, salted or unsalted, cut into bits2 large eggs2 large egg yolksOne pre-baked 9-inch (23 cm) tart shellPreheat the oven to 350F (180C.)1. In a medium-sized non-reactive saucepan, heat the lemon juice, zest, sugar, and butter.Have a mesh strainer nearby.2. In a small bowl, beat together the eggs and the yolks.

3. When the butter is melted, whisk some of the warm lemon mixture into the eggs, stirringconstantly, to warm them. Scrape the warmed eggs back into the saucepan and cook overlow heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and almost begins to bubble aroundthe edges.4. Pour the lemon curd though a strainer directly into the pre-baked tart shell, scraping witha rubber spatula to press it through.5. Smooth the top of the tart and pop it in the oven for five minutes, just to set the curd.6. Remove from the oven and let cool before slicing and serving. --
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2009/05/french_tart_dough_a_la_francaise.html


4/15

French Tart Dough Recipe184 comments - 05.01.2009

I was in the middle of a lovely spring lunch at Chez Prune up by the Canal St. Martin theother day with Paule Caillat , a woman who teaches cooking classes here in Paris.We talked about many things, but of course, the conversation quickly turned to the mostimportant subject of them all: baking. And soon she began to tell me about this tart doughrecipe that shes been making for years.I was expecting her to say, You begin by taking some cold butter and work it into the flour.But she started by saying, You take butter. And you take water. You put them in a bowl.Then you put it in the oven for 20 minutes and let everything boil until which, of course,stopped me mid-swallow of my Cte du Rhone. I almost started choking.

Surely, you jest! I wanted to cry out in disbelief.Except I couldnt, because I dont know how to say that in French. So I just sat there with my mouth agape, which is a pretty uncharacteristic position for meto find myself in.
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/05/french-tart-dough-a-la-francaise/#comments


5/15

Then she reiterated, that she heated the butter in the oven and dumped in some flour thenstirred it until it was smooth. Seriously gang, you coulda knocked me over with un plume . Itwas as if someone told me that Anne Coulter actually wasnt really out of her friggin gourd,or that I packed up and split to a foreign country with no plans for my future. It was all justcrazy-talk.


6/15

So Paule invited me to her fabulous, spanking-new kitchen ( je suis jaloux! ), where sheteaches cooking classes at Promenades Gourmandes , to make the dough. After I caughtmy breath at her kitchen, which was roughly the size of my apartment, she lit the oven andsoon the butter was bubbling merrily away in the oven. She made me come over and look,showing me how it was darkening just around the edges, comme le beurre noisette like browned butter.
http://www.promenadesgourmandes.com/


7/15

A few moments later, she carefully pulled it out then she dumped in an unspecified amountof flour with an audible sizzle, and began stirring briskly.When I asked how much flour shed added, she said, Ohyou know, enough to make itright.


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Immediately my breathing became short and I had to brace myself against the wall(although a slug of Cte du Rhone brought me back): I knew that youd flip out if I didntget an exact amount of flour out of her. Yet after multiple messages back and forth with herfrom my home kitchen, I came up with the right quantity. I know from experience pinningdown the French isnt always easy, but the rewards are invariably worth it.(Except I still cant figure out why France Telecom said if I get an iPhone now, its goingto cost me 509. But if I wait until next January, I can have it at the currently-advertisedprice of 89.)


9/15

If youve been afraid to make tart dough, give this one a try. It couldnt be easier to make,or more interesting, and yielded a wonderfully flaky, buttery dough. And if anyone asks forthe recipe, do make sure theyre not mid-gulp.


10/15

French Pastry DoughOne 9 (23 cm) tart shellAdapted from a recipe by Paule Caillat of Promenades GourmandesIn France, I used type 65 organic flour, which is similar to American all-purpose flour. Paule

says that her students report back, saying that the dough works beautifully with Americanbutter, too. Small cracks in the dough are normal so I wouldnt use this for a thin, custardyfilling, although it works well filled with chocolate ganache and I would imagine it would belovely filled with fresh berries resting on a base of pastry cream.Do be careful with the hot bowl of butter. Not only will the butter spatter a bit when you addthe flour, but its uncommon to have a very hot bowl on the counter and easy to simply givein the urge to grab it with your bare hands.90 g (3 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used canola)3 tablespoons water1 tablespoon sugar1/8 teaspoon salt150 g (5oz, or 1 slightly-rounded cup) flourPreheat the oven to 410 F (210 C).

1. In a medium-sized ovenproof bowl, such as a Pyrex bowl, combine the butter, oil, water,sugar, and salt.2. Place the bowl in the oven for 15 minutes, until the butter is bubbling and starts to brown

just around the edges.3. When done, remove the bowl from oven (and be careful, since the bowl will be hot andthe mixture might sputter a bit), dump in the flour and stir it in quickly, until it comestogether and forms a ball which pulls away from the sides of the bowl.4. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch (23 cm) tart mold with a removable bottom and spread it abit with a spatula.
http://www.promenadesgourmandes.com/


11/15

5. Once the dough is cool enough to handle, pat it into the shell with the heel of your and,and use your fingers to press it up the sides of the tart mold. Reserve a small piece of dough, about the size of a raspberry, for patching any cracks.(Paule takes a fork and reinforces the dough to the sides, which I didnt find necessary.)6. Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork about ten times, then bake the tart shellin the oven for 15 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown.7. Remove from the oven and if there are any sizable cracks, use the bits of reserved doughto fill in and patch them.I find it best to pinch off a small amount of the reserved dough, roll it gently between yourfingers to soften it, then wedge it into the cracks, smoothing it gently with your pinky.8. Let the shell cool before filling.

Meyer Lemon Tart

Ah.. finally this post is up!! Every year around Spring time (it is kinda late this year), I am always loaded with a whole bunch of meyer lemons, mostly coming from neighbor's tree, friends, and also from my coworker's too. Thecoworker has a meyer lemon tree that is producing all year around (yup, I now now where to get mysource all year!).
http://gourmetbaking.blogspot.ca/2011/07/meyer-lemon-tart.html


12/15

The temperature here is staying around 80's on average, cool in the morning and at night. I guessmaking lemon tart is really appropriate to finally celebrating the hot summer days! I LOVE SUMMER! Life is still crazy busy, it seems like there is never enough time for everything, I am sure it happenswith most of you too. Lack of sleep is becoming a regular now, so between work, baking, personal life,social life, errands (or chores), sometimes you really just want to sit back and relax.

anyways, if you've been following this blog for a while, you probably notice that I would make meyerlemon tart every year and this year is no difference, just a bit later than usual (I made this about 1.5months ago). I have been trying to use them fast since they have been in the fridge for quite a whileand I would hate it if they're going to waste. So, I managed to make this lemon tart and macaron over aspan of a week, one component at a time.


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14/15

LOVE LOVE LOVE this tart (that is really the primary reason why I make them every year)! As usual, therecipe comes from Pierre Herme and I am pretty sure any lemon lovers are well-informed about hisbrilliant lemon cream. It is always satisfying everytime I make it and it will continue to appear everyyear. So if you still have some stash of lemons, please try this. And even if you don't, you might want to goget it to make this tart. Pierre Herme's Meyer Lemon Tart Pate Sucreeyield: three 101/2-in crusts or four 8-in crusts 300g unsalted butter, cubed, at room temperature190g powdered sugar60g ground almonds1 vanilla bean, scrapped2 eggs, room temperature500g all-purpose flour1 tsp salt


15/15

* Put the butter in a mixer bowl and cream until smooth and creamy using a paddle attachment.* Add the sugar, ground almonds, and vanilla bean seeds. Mix until combined.* Add the eggs one at a time, fully incorporating the previous one before adding the next one (thedough might look curdled at this point but don't worry, it'll come together once you add the flour)* Combine the flour and salt. Add to the dough in about three addition. Mix until just it comestogether. Do not overwork! Like Pierre said, "it's better to have lumps of butter rather than to have an

overworked dough".* Divide the dough in the portions you need. Form each one into a ball and flatten it into a disk. Wrapeach disk with plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight (you can also freeze the dough at thispoint and thaw it in the fridge overnight).* Remove one disk from the fridge, and roll it either between two sheets of parchment paper, orjust well-floured surface. You need to move quickly though. You don't want the dough to be soft andoverworked.* Line your tart pan with the dough and put it back in the fridge for at least 1-2 hrs to rest.* Preheat the oven to 350 F.* When you're ready to bake, put a parchment paper on top of the dough and fill the bottom witheither rice or beans.* Bake for 20 minutes. Take the parchment paper and the beans/rice off, then continue to bake foranother 5-10 minutes until it's golden brown.* Let cool in the ring. Lemon Cream 200 g whole eggs (4 eggs)240 g granulated sugar160 g fresh Meyer lemon juicezest from about 5 lemons300 g unsalted butter, room temperature and cubed * Rub the zest with the sugar using your finger until the sugar is moistened with lemon oil.* On a double boiler, combine the sugar, eggs and juice .* Whisk/stir constantly until the mixture reaches 85-86 C.* Strain the mixture and let cool to about 55-60 C and put it in a blender (if you don't have a hand-heldblender)* Add the butter a couple of pieces at a time, to make an emulsion. The mixture will lighten in color.Continue running the blender for a few minutes after all of the butter has been added to ensure theairy and light cream. Make sure stop and run the blender a few times to avoid over-heating.* Pour the mixture into prepared crust and refrigerate.

Those looks so yummy! Some questions for you:* Did you make the whole batch of the pate sucree? It said it makes 3-4 crusts. Or did you make severallemon tarts? Yes, I do make the whole batch. I keep the rest in the freezer which is GREAT! so that Ican make one crust for all different tarts* What did you use as your tart pans? From the shape of it, it looks like you use either a cake pan or aspringform pan, probably 8"? Is that right?I used tart rings measured about 3" in diameter and 3/4" high.You can use any other tart pans you have*Your reciepe states "yield: three 101/2-in crusts or four 8-in crusts" but in the comment you sayyou use a 3" tart ring. Could you let me know which the reciepe makes as i would like to make 4 x 3"tartlets and dont know if i need to half the amounts.I used the same recipe as stated on the post. I always divide them into 3 rounds or 4 rounds whenmaking the dough and freeze it. One round is enough to make about 5-6 mini tarts (measured about alittle over 3" inches in diameter and 0.5" high

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Lemon Tart(s)