The translation of Tarte Au Citron is 'lemon pie'. This is exactly what this is, maybe not a pie because it doesn't have a lid. I would say a lemon tart.
This tart is so gorgeous, tasting and looking. The filling has the right amount of acidic to sweetness which I think is very important when your using lemons.
The tart has a shortcrust pasty shell, that is lightly browned. The shortcrust pastry must be short and crumble and not be tough.
This tart has chocolate ganache swirls that are swirled around the lemon tart. The chocolate is optional but adds a bit of flare to the tart. I think the lemon tart is perfect without the chocolate, but is optional.
You need to watch this tart bake very carefully because if you over bake the tart you will get cracks in your tart, like a cheesecake.
I think this was a lovely composed photo shoot. The white picket wood complements the blue and white plates. Blue and yellow are contrasting colours that is why I think this photo shoot worked so well.
This tart is a great sweet treat for afternoon tea with your girlfriends. Eating it with a cake fork and sharing memories with your girlfriends. That's my kind of afternoon.
I think tarts are a really good dessert to serve at dinner parties, because they are simple to make but have a bit of sophistication. I think when I am older I am going to have dinner parties, and I will cook for all my friends. We will drink wine and laugh and make memories.
This is my favourite composed shot above because in many of my photoshoots it is very hard to get an attractive shot from above.
Let's begin the tutorial on how to make such a delicious tart!
-Make the pastry:
-Cube the butter and make sure it is cold. Add the flour to the bowl.
-Add three egg yolks and enough water until the mixture comes together into a dough.
-Add three egg yolks and enough water until the mixture comes together into a dough.
-When the dough just comes together, don't overwork it or it will become tough. Wrap in gladwrap and place in the fridge to chill for at least an hour. This is important, do not skip this step because this relaxes the gluten strands.
-Pick some fresh lemons from your orchard. Cut them open and juice them.
-My lemons match my kitchen cupboards!
-Strain the juice through a sieve and into a bowl. Along with eggs and lemon zest.
-Line your tart tin with butter and flour and 2 strips of baking paper for extra security.
-Dust the bench with flour and place your pastry onto the bench.
-Roll out your pastry until it is thin, but do not over stretch it.
-Wrap the pastry around the rolling pin and roll it out onto the lined tart tin.
-Trim the egdes of the tart tin but leave an overhang of pastry incase the pastry shrinks because it did not rest in the fridge for very long.
-Add the cream to your filling and give all the ingredients a gentle whisk.
-Bake your tart shell blind at 180 degrees for 20 minutes, remove the weights and bake for another 5 minutes.
-Pour your filling into the tart shell and bake for 30 minutes until it is set. But still wobbles in the middle.
Recipe
Tarte au citron
Sweet Shortcrust pastry
225g plain flour
125g cubed and chilled unsalted butter
80g icing sugar
3 egg yolks
1 Tablespoon of iced water
Photo Tutorial available in this blog entry,
Filling
4 eggs
100g unrefined sugar
150ml lemon juice - more or less depending on your tartness
zest of 3 lemons
350ml cream
Make the pastry:
-Cube the chilled butter and add it to the bowl of flour and icing sugar.
-Pulse the cold butter and flour together till it resembles fine bread crumbs and are pale in colour.
-Add egg yolks and water and mix into a soft dough with your hands.
-When it is just coming together, wrap it in glad wrap and place in the fridge for at least an hour.
Make the filling:
-Mix the eggs, sugar until light and pale. Add juice, zest and cream and mix until well combinded.
Make the chocolate:
60g dark chocolate
100ml cream
- Line the tart tin and roll the pastry over the tart tin. Prick the tart with a fork.
-Place baking paper in the middle of the tart and place beans, rice, beads to weigh down the pastry. This is known as blind baking.
-Bake the tart blind for 20 minutes at 180 degrees. Remove the weights from the tart and bake in the oven for 5 minutes.
-Let the tart shell cool down.
-Make the chocolate mixture by heating the cream on a saucepan and when it is simmering, pour it over your chopped chocolate. Let it sit for a few minutes and then stir until its smooth and glossy.
-Pour the prepared lemon mixture into the tart shell, with the tart already on the oven tray, to avoid spillage.
-With your prepared chocolate ganache, dip a spoon in the mixture and swirl around the tart.
-Bake the tart at 150 degrees for about 30 minutes until the outside is cooked but the inside is woobly.
-Leave the tart to cool down, and remove from the tin.
Perfect!
Until next time lovelies..
