tart au citron: from france with love

tart au citron

A few weeks ago I wrote about my brother and his love for lemon meringue pie in general and my Mum’s well missed version in particular. And while I was, I guess you could say, pleasantly surprised at how well the LMP turned out, what I didn’t share with you all was how impressed I was with my backup dessert.

As you can imagine I was a little nervous relying on living up to Mum’s high lemon meringue pie standards, particularly when my gorgeous brother was going to be tasting. And even more especially when we were having a belated birthday dinner at the farm in Dom’s honour. So rather than have all that pressure of getting the LMP to perform, I decided to call for reinforcements in the form of a backup tart.

So just in time for Bastille Day, I give you my version of the lovely Rose Carrarini’s lemon tart or tart au citron. All the way from her Parisian kitchens, home to Rose Bakery, a place I’m just dying to visit when next I find myself in the city of lights. The thing that makes Rose’s tart special is that there are two fillings, the first a lemony eggy almost baked custard topped with a rich yet punchy layer of lemon curd, something that I’m sure my Mum, a big big fan of all things citrussy would have approved…. all good things.

 

tart au citron
serves 8-10

 

Adapted from the Rose Carrarini in Breakfast, Lunch, Tea Rose Bakery.

While all the egg yolks make for a very rich tart, the lovely zest of the lemon provides enough sharpness so that it feels like a refreshing end to the meal.

1 28cm sweet tart shell, prebaked. See HERE for my favourite recipe.
165g (3/4C) caster sugar
8 eggs
2 egg yolks
250mL (1C) lemon juice
75mL (1/3C) cream
for the lemon curd:
2 eggs
5 yolks
110g (1/2C) caster sugar
125mL (1/2C) lemon juice
60g unsalted butter, chopped
double cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 180C. Whisk together eggs and sugar until pale then whisk in lemon juice and cream. Place tart shell on the oven shelf then carefully pour in the lemon filling. Bake for 30-40mins or until filling is set and firm to the touch. Allow to cool.

Meanwhile make the curd by combining eggs, sugar and lemon juice in a heatproof bowl. Place bowl over a saucepan with about 1cm deep simmering water and cook eggs mixture gently stirring constantly until the curd thickens and keeps its shape when stirred. Remove from the heat and whisk through butter chunks. Refrigerate until needed.

When ready to serve spread lemon curd over the surface of the tart and serve slices with marscapone passed separately.

 

 

 

 

Tags: lemon tart