The zingiest, tangiest and creamiest lemon tart I have ever made, I love it. Don't be put off by the amount of eggs and lemon the in the Lemon Tart Recipe - it is so rich and flavorful, a small piece goes a long way.
Prep Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients:
- 8oz/ 225g plain flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 4oz/110g cold butter, diced
- FOR THE FILLING
- Grated zest and juice of 7 lemons
- 12 oz/350g caster sugar
- 6 whole eggs
- 9 egg yolks
- 10 ½ oz/300g unsalted butter, softened
Preparation:
Serves 8
- Heat the oven to 375°/190°/Gas 5
- Place the flour and sugar into the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and 2 tbsp of cold water. Pulse mix until all the ingredients are incorporated into a dough, add more water a tsp at a time if the mixture doesn’t stick together and pulse again. Wrap in plastic wrap and rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Butter a 10”/25cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Unwrap the pastry, roll and line the tart dish making sure it is even on the bottom and sides and there are no holes. Prick the base of the dish using a fork. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Cover the pastry with baking parchment and fill with baking beans, or use long grain rice. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, remove the parchment and beans or rice and bake for a further 10 minutes until the crust is golden. Leave until completely cold.
- Meanwhile make the filling. Place the lemon zest, juice, sugar, eggs and egg yolks into a large roomy saucepan. Over a very low heat, whisk to incorporate all the ingredients and continue to whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Take your time with this process, do not be tempted to turn the heat up or you’ll scramble the eggs. Slowly the mixture will begin to thicken and is ready when thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
- Remove the pan from the heat and place on a cold surface. Continue to whisk until the mixture is lukewarm.
- Raise the oven temperature to 450 °F/ 230 °C/GAS 8.
- Pour the mixture into the pastry base, place near the top of the hot oven and bake until the top is brown about 8 minutes. You can also brown the surface using a chef’s blowtorch if you have one but take care not to burn the surface.
