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
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