Lemon tart recipe that is just heavenly. This classic recipe comes from the French recipe for Tart Au Citron. One of the best lemon tarts that I have ever made, was when I managed to get some of the most amazing Sicilian lemons. Which leads me to say, buy the best quality lemons you can.
You can make the lemon tart as one large one, or for dinner parties, I have been known to make them as individual ones. This is a dessert that is popular at dinner parties. I think after a large meal, you sometimes yearn for something slightly tangy, not too heavy and perfect year round. I like to serve it with fresh whipped cream and fresh raspberries.
My other word of warning is that this is easy to make, if you follow the rules! When making the pastry MAKE SURE you let it cool and rest in the fridge before you roll it out. Also put it back in the fridge after rolling it out. Sweet pastry is utterly delicious, but you have to keep things as cool as possible.
Lemon Tart recipe ingredients
- 200g Plain Flour
- 50g Icing Sugar
- 120g Butter
- 2 Egg Yolks
- 2 Tablespoons of cold water
- 5 Whole medium eggs
- 220g caster sugar
- Zest of 2 lemons
- Juice of 4 lemons (has to be around 130mls of lemon juice)
- 150ml of double cream
lemon tart recipe method
In a food processor add the flour, icing sugar, 2 egg yolks, butter, water and give it a quick blitz, until it looks like it is turning to a dough and starting to come together. Mould into a round and place into the fridge for 20-30 minutes. Sweet pastry hates heat, if you attempted to roll out at this stage you could end up with a real mess!
Once cooled roll out the pastry to fit a 23cm loosed bottom flan tin which is placed on a baking tray. Leave the overhanging bits for now, and place back in the fridge for a further 20 minutes.
Heat the oven to 180 degrees centigrade.
Gently prick the base with a fork ensuring you do not prick all the way through to the tin bottom. You can trim the edges of excess pastry, however I leave mine and trim off after it has been cooked to avoid shrinkage. You need to bake the pastry blind, so will need to put a layer of tin foil on top of the pastry base, then weight it down either with ceramic baking beans. If you do not have ceramic beans, you could use rice or dried peas/lentils. Place into the oven for around 10-15 minutes.
Remove from the oven then further remove the foil with the beans/rice or whatever you have used to weigh it down. Then place back into the oven for a further 10-15 minutes until starting to just go golden.
Remove again from the oven and turn your oven down to 160 degrees centigrade.
Whilst the pastry case cools slightly, you can start making the filling. In a bowl gently whisk the eggs, double cream, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar until combined. Then pour into the pastry case until it almost reaches the brim of the pastry case. With a very steady hand put it back into the oven for about 30 minutes. If the pastry starts to brown too much, you can pop some foil over the top. This then allows it to cook without burning the sides of the pastry. The tart is cooked when it has a gentle wobble.
Allow to cool completely and then serve.