Friday, July 18, 2008

Lemon tart

Lemon tart

I love listening to music while I’m cooking/baking. And I sing along, too – oh, my poor neighbors... :)

Certain recipes remind me of certain songs, probably because I was listening to them on repeat mode – another bad habit of mine – while preparing the food. The Darkest Chocolate Crepe Cake, for example, instantly brings Steve Winwood’s “Valerie” to my mind, and vice versa. Crash Hot Potatoes = Clapton’s “It’s in the way that you used it”. The list goes on and on.

The radio was off when I made this tart, but something tells me that this song would go with it very well. :)

Lemon tart

Lemon tart
from Donna Hay magazine

- metric and imperial measurements found in the magazine; I used my scale

Dough:
1 1/3 cups (200g/7oz) all purpose flour
100g (3 ½oz) cold unsalted butter, chopped
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Lemon filling:
1 cup (8 fl oz) single or pouring cream
2 eggs
3 egg yolks
½ cup (110g/3 ¾oz) caster sugar
½ cup (4 fl oz) lemon juice

Place the flour, butter and sugar in a food processor and process until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg and vanilla and process in short bursts until the pastry just comes together. Turn out and bring together to form a ball. Flatten the pastry, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 15 minutes.
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until 3mm (1/8 in) thick. Line a deep 22cm (9in) round pastry ring* with the pastry, trim and prick the base with a fork. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/360ºF. Line the pastry with non-stick baking paper, fill with baking weights or dried beans and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the weights/beans and paper and bake for a further 2-3 minutes or until golden. Set aside.
Reduce the oven to 140ºC/285ºF. To make the lemon filling, place the cream, eggs, egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and whisk to combine. Pour the mixture into the tart shell and use the back of a metal spoon to skim the surface to remove any bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes or until just set. Allow to cool and refrigerate until completely set.

* I used a shallow pan and there was some dough left; I froze it and to avoid wasting lemon filling I halved the recipe.

Serves 8

49 comments:

Anonymous said...

So pretty and so fresh-looking! I like this lemon jag you're on! :-)

Peter M said...

Patricia, after gawking at this elegant tart, I would have thought you were listening to Brazil's Sepultura!

May said...

I also love to sing (and sometimes dance) when I cook and bake. Its even better when you have someone who sings & cook along with you :)

The tart looks great!
And you have a fantastic blog! I've been reading for quite a while :)

Jen Yu said...

Gorgeous tart - the surface is perfection. It is making my mouth water. Thanks for the inspiration. I often wonder if I should subscribe to DH - I love her mag, but all of the ones I love cost $ and it adds up quickly!

Peabody said...

It looks lush. Have you ever tried the Dorie one? It uses butter in the filling and OH MY is what I said when I tasted it.

Chibog in Chief said...

i love singing too while cooking LOL maybe we can do a duet from time to time..this tart is really gorgeous, this is my hubby's fave im sure he will track you down to have slice :-)

Sarah said...

I love how lemon can seem to cool you off in the summer. This tart seems like the perfect treat for a hot summer day.

Allen said...

I may be the only person on earth who doesn't like U2 -- but I absolutely love your lemon tart :-)

Deborah said...

You know I'm a lemon fan, and this tart looks like perfection!

Katerina said...

God I love Lemon Tart, how can you possibly go wrong right?

Anonymous said...

Oh the Citrus Queen has struck again! Lovely lemon tart, dearie :) You've got me drooling :P

Anonymous said...

Patricia, that tart looks so delicious.

Is there anything prettier and drool-worthy than a Lemon Tart? If there is, I don't know about it.

TBC said...

You've been using a lot of citrus in your recipes lately.:D

That looks like summer in a plate- beautiful!

eatingclubvancouver_js said...

I love lemon tarts! This one looks deliciously silky.

Emily said...

Oh! What a luscious lemon tart! I would sing opera for a slice of that.

LyB said...

First the lemon curd, now this luscious tart! It has such a lovely color, and it looks just perfectly creamy. Beautiful! :)

Manggy said...

When I was a young lad I attempted to make a one-pan lemon tart like yours (no precooking the curd). It was a veritable disaster. Yours looks perfect in every way, all the way up to that shiny yellow surface :) Good job!

Anonymous said...

I can seriously taste this delectable pie from here! That color is something else.

Y said...

Lovely lovely lemon tart! Not a huge fan of U2, but anything involving the word Lemon often reminds me of that song of theirs too :)

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) said...

To me, singing and baking at the same time constitutes serious multi-tasking! I need all of my concentration to bake, because I'm such a bake-o-phobe and almost always seem to leave one thing (a critical thing, like butter, or salt) out of my baking efforts.

lululu said...

i'm such a song-repeat-listeners too!!! my husband keeps wondering why i do that! ha...

such a beautiful tart!

kellypea said...

Patricia, I'm the same with with old movies...I can just hear you singing. And I've been wanting a lemon tart since coming back from Sorrento. There are lemons everywhere there, and your tart is lusciously making me think of that beautiful place.

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness that's beautiful and so perfectly summery. I can practically just taste it.

Shari said...

I love lemon desserts, and this one looks amazing! BTW, I've given you an award. Check it out here!
Shari@Whisk: a food blog

Brilynn said...

I love to listen to music when I'm in the kitchen... sometimes I just crank it and drown everything out and sort of zone out completely, it's great... as is that tart!

Katie said...

How beautiful! I love your blog.

T said...

That looks very delicious, I love the combination of a buttery dough and lemon :]

brian said...

Oooh, these look really good. I've got some Meyer Lemons I know I can get for this!

KJ said...

lemon tart is just the best!!!

Lore said...

Lovely and delicate-looking tart!
:) I'm just like you, but I usually don't sing while in the kitchen only when I don't need to concentrate on stuff...I do however I "victory" dance when something turns out better than expected.

Anonymous said...

Hi Pat! That's one pretty lemon tart you have there! :)

Anonymous said...

Ohhh, just delicious!

Anonymous said...

A wonderfully refreshing dessert for the summer, beautiful!

Dewi said...

I'll never get enough of lemon tarte. Yours look so delice!

Katie said...

How did you get your tart to have such a lovely yellow colour?

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

Wow - look at that! So perfect...

Patricia Scarpin said...

Ann, I'm a lemon maniac! :)

Pete, they're too heavy for me, my friend! ;)

M, thank you so much for your kind words!

Jen, I have subscribed because her magazines are impossible to find here. It's expensive, but it's a gift I give myself every year - and it's been worth it!

Pea, I have not and now I'm curious about it. ;)

Dhanggit, deal! A duet we shall do. ;)

Sarah, it's not that hot here, but the tart went well anyway. ;)

Allen, I don't like them either, my friend - the song was perfect for the recipe, though.

Deb, thank you, darling!

Katerina, I agree. :)

Ovenhaven, I like that title! :)

Marysol, I think you're right, dear.

TBC, I'll be using a lot more! :)

Eating Club, thank you for stopping by!

Emiline, I'll give you seconds if you sing. ;)

LyB, there's more lemon coming, darling!

Mark, it's a recipe by Donna Hay, my friend, that's all you need to know. :)

Cathy, loads of eggs. :)

Y, I'm not a fan of theirs, either, but I'm like you, the song is automatic linked to anything lemon. :)

Lydia, I've been practicing for a while now. :)

Lu, my husband wonders, too! :)
Thank you!

Kelly, my dear friend, I'm glad my tart reminds you of such a wonderful place!
xx

Dayna, thank you!

Shari, thank you, darling!

Bri, I know! It's like a trance or something. So liberating!

Katie, thank you for stopping by!

Trixy, thank you for your visit!

Brian, go ahead! :)

KJ, I agree!

Lore, thank you for visiting! I like the idea of a victory dance, may I borrow it? ;)

Maryann, darling, thank you!

Linda, tks!

Reeni, thank you for your visit!

Elra, tks for stopping by!

Katie, loads of eggs and egg yolks!

A Fork Full... Thank you!

Elle said...

Music and food just go together! This tart is gorgeous and looks delicious.

PS--left you an ward on my blog. :)

Jamie said...

Yum! I love LEMON! Great blog! :)

Anonymous said...

First of all, I love that plate!
Secondly, what a delicious and beautiful looking tart. Great job, Patricia!

test it comm said...

That lemon tart looks great!

Gigi said...

The tart and the song match each other perfectly Patricia! Like you, I love to listen to music while I cook.

Ann said...

I almost forgot about this lemon tart! You had commented on mine a few weeks back and said you were making one. This is beautiful. Aren't they just delicious? I love the texture.

Jeff said...

As anti-baking as I am I could do this. I always end up buying these massive bags of lemons, make lemonade, and then have 10 more lemons staring at me with a blank look going what now.....uhhh... I put a slice of you in my ice tea?

Anonymous said...

Lemon tart! It looks delicious! I have never made one, looks like a good recipe to try!

Jeanne said...

Oh I do love lemon tart. This one looks absolutely perfect - I'm sure you could see your own reflection in the top! Wish I could have tasted it...

ATasteOfMadness said...

Oh, yum. I love tarts. This looks great!!

Anonymous said...

I was very enthusiastic and made this recipe last weekend. After some struggling, I ended up with a pie that looked wonderful and tasted great! But the recipe says to only mix the filling and then pour this in to the tart shell and bake. This gave me a lot of trouble because the filling didn't quite fit the shell and was so fluid, it kept sloshing over the sides. Moreover, it was still sloshing and anything but set after 20 minutes of baking. So I took the filling out again and put it in a pan on the stove, stirring it while I heated it, until it turned into a thick cream. This I poured back into the shell, baked (again) for the required 20 minutes and then finally ended up with my desired pie! It even had the extra shiny yellow top layer! So there's my tip: heat the lemon filling, while stirring, into a thick cream before pouring it into the shell and baking according to the instructions. This way, you can even decorate it with some thin lemon slices which will stay on top of the cream.
Cheers for the recipe!
Judi

Patricia Scarpin said...

Dear Judi, I'm sorry to hear the recipe gave you such a hard time. :(
Thank you for taking the time to write. xx

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