Lemon Tart
A shortbread style crust with a smooth lemon curd. If you like citrus, you'll like this tart.
Servings 1 9 inch tart
Equipment
- 1 Food Processor for making the tart dough
- 1 Stand Mixer
- 1 9-inch removable bottom tart pan springform pan works too
- 1 Thermapen optional, but nice to have
Ingredients
Lemon Curd
- 150 grams sugar just regular sugar
- zest of 2 lemons
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 large egg
- 170 grams lemon juice 5-6 large lemons worth
- 4 grams Kosher salt
- 113 grams chilled unsalted butter 1 stick, cut into ½" pieces
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Tart Dough
- 160 grams all-purpose flour plus more for hands
- 30 grams powdered sugar
- 4 grams Kosher salt
- 113 grams chilled unsalted butter 1 stick, cut into ½" pieces
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
The Tart Itself
- Lemon Curd
- 120 grams whole-milk Greek yogurt, plain
- Tart Dough par-baked in 9-inch tart pan
- 100 grams blackberry jam
Instructions
Lemon Curd Instructions
- Add the sugar and lemon zest to a sauce pan and mix the two together using your fingers or a whisk if you don't like getting your hands dirty. Add the egg yolks and egg and whisk like crazy, making sure there aren't any pockets of sugar in the corners of the sauce pan. After around 2 minutes, the mixture should be very pale, light in texture, and thick.
- While continuing to whisk, slowly add the lemon juice in, whisking constantly until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in salt and place sauce pan over low-medium heat and continue to whisk constantly until the curd is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, around 7-10 minutes. The mixture will be around 170 degrees F, which is where the thermapen comes in handy, but its not necessary.
- Remove the curd from the heat and whisk in the butter one piece at a time, making sure to let each piece fully incorporate into the mixture until adding the next. Once all the butter is incorporated and the mixture is smooth, whisk in the vanilla.
- Transfer the curd to a medium size glass or plastic bowl and press a piece of cling film onto the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Place in the fridge to cool, at least 3 hours.
Tart Dough Instructions
- Add the flour, powdered sugar, and salt to the food processor and pulse a few times to combine.
- Add the butter and process in long pulses until the butter is in small pieces, around the size of a lemon seed.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk, vanilla and 4 teaspoons of cold water with a fork until smooth. Drizzle the egg mixture over the flour mixture making sure to get all of the egg mixture out. Use a spatula to get all of the egg mixture out.
- Process the dough with long pulses until a ball of dough forms around the blades and no floury spots remain. Scrape the dough out of the food processor and onto a sheet of cling film.
- Pat the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days.
- Unwrap the dough and divide it in half using a bench scraper or knife. Cut one half into six strips and roll the strips out using your hands. Press the strips of dough into the side of your tart pan, pressing into place so the inside circumference of your tart pan is lined with dough. The dough should extend a little bit above the top of the pan.
- Take the other half off the dough and press it into the bottom of the pan, making sure that the layer of dough is even. Where the bottom meets the sides, press the dough together to seal.
- Freeze the lined pan until the dough is completely firm, 15-20 min. Take the pan out of the freezer and using a paring knife, trim the excess dough off of the top of the tart pan so the dough doesn't extend above the tart pan, Hold onto the excess dough that was removed, it'll come in handy later to patch any cracks you might get during baking.
- Using a fork, prick all over the bottom of the tart pan. Press a layer of tin foil directly onto the surface of the dough and into the sides. This serves the same function as pie weights for blind baking.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the edge of the crust is golden brown. Remove the tin foil and bake for another 15 minutes so that the crust is parbaked. Patch any cracks in the crust with the reserved raw dough from earlier.
Lemon Tart Assembly
- Mix the lemon curd with the Greek yogurt until smooth. Cover and allow the mixture to come to room temperature.
- Place the oven rack in the center and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place a thin layer of jam evenly across the parbaked crust and bake for 5 minutes, or until set. This is to create a seal between the crust and the curd so that the crust stays crisp.
- Place the filling into the crust and fill to the top. You may have a bit of curd left over. Bake for 30 minutes or until the filling is set and has a bit of a wobble to it but not a ripple. Watch an episode of the great British bakeoff if this doesn't make sense.
- Let the tart cool on a wire rack before removing the ring and placing on a serving tray. Place in the fridge to chill, at least one hour, before serving.