Lemon Tart
Ingredients
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
175g white flour
75g butter
1 dessertspoon of castor or icing sugar
Beaten egg to bind
Filling
3 eggs and 1 egg yolk
Zest of 2 lemons
Juice of 3 lemons (200ml) and juice of 1 orange (150ml)
150ml double cream
155g sugar
Preparation method
In a food processor, pulse together the butter, sugar and flour to give coarse,
“flat” breadcrumb texture. Add the egg and pulse again until the pastry comes
together. Tip onto a sheet of cling film, form into a flat round and refrigerate
for at least 30 minutes.
Roll the pastry out on a floured work surface, under a sheet of cling film. Slip the
base of the tart tin under the pastry, lift into the tin and mould into ring. Cover with
cling film and let rest in fridge for 30 minutes or freeze until needed.
Bake blind for 20-25 minutes until it is pale golden and almost fully cooked. Remove
the beans, paint the base with a little beaten egg or egg white and replace in the oven
for 2-3 minutes. When it is cooked, let it cool while the filling is prepared. Lower the
oven temperatures to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3.
Grate the lemon zest finely.
Whisk all the ingredients for the tart filling together - the eggs, orange and lemon
juice, lemon zest, cream and sugar. When the mixture is nice and frothy, pour most of
it into the tart shell. The mixture needs to come right to the top, but to avoid spilling
it, put the partly filled tart into the oven (with the temperature now reduced). Finish
filling it with a spoon.
Bake the tart until the filling has become firm. This should take about 35 minutes.
Check by giving the tin a little shake. When the tart is lukewarm, take the tart out of
the tin and leave it on a wire rack to cool (best eaten on the day it’s made).