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Lemon Tart

Use a tart pan with removable edge. This is a little time consuming, but well worth the effort for special occasions.

What you need

  1. »«Tart Shell»«
  2. 1 egg yolk
  3. 1 tbl cream
  4. 1/2 tsp vanilla
  5. 1 1/4 cup flour
  6. 2/3 cup powdered sugar
  7. 1/4 tsp salt
  8. 1 stick (8 tbl) very cold butter, cut up
  9. 1 tbl flour
  10. »«Lemon Filling»«
  11. 7 egg yolks
  12. 2 whole eggs
  13. 1 cup sugar
  14. 2/3 cup fresh meyer lemon juice (about 5 lemons)
  15. 1/4 cup finely grated lemon zest
  16. 4 tbl unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  17. 3 tbl cream
  18. 2 tbl sugar

How to make it

  1. For the shell - In a small bowl, mix egg yolk, cream and vanilla
  2. In a food processor, pulse to combine flour, sugar and salt
  3. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture and pluse until mixture resembles coarse meal (press pulse for about 1 second 10-20 times)
  4. Turn machine on and while running pour in egg mixture
  5. Process until dough just comes together (20-30 seconds)
  6. Remove and press into a 6 inch disc
  7. Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and chill for two hours
  8. Lightly flour a large piece of plastic wrap and roll out dough large enough to line a tart pan
  9. Place dough into tart pan and press evenly, forming to sides - use a rolling pin to remove excess pastry by rolling over top of pan
  10. Place lined pan into the freezer for 30 minutes
  11. Heat oven to 375 and adjust one rack to upper middle and other rack to lower middle
  12. Place chilled tart shell on a cookie sheet and and using parchment or foil, gently line the shell
  13. Fill with pie weights or dried beans to keep the shell from rising in the center while baking
  14. Bake on lower rack 30 minutes, rotating halfway through
  15. Remove foil and weights carefully by lifting straight up
  16. Transfer shell to upper rack and bake about 5 more minutes until golden brown
  17. For the filling - In a nonreactive bowl, whisk egg yolks and eggs until combined
  18. Add sugar and whisk until combined
  19. Add lemon juice, zest and salt and whisk until combined
  20. Transfer to medium nonreactive saucepan, add butter and cook over medium low heat stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until curd thickens to thin sauce (170 on instant read thermometer)
  21. Immediately pour curd through stainless steel or plastic strainer into a nonreactive bowl
  22. Stir in cream and immediately pour into warm tart shell
  23. Bake at 375 about 10 - 15 minutes until shiny and opaque and the center 3 inches still jiggle slightly
  24. Cool to room temperature, then remove outer metal ring
  25. Using a thin spatula, remove tart from bottom of tart pan and onto a serving dish
  26. Serve with fresh berries

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