As I go back to old recipes that I have collected and made numerous times, I muse that I never thought I would be trying to post them onto a website like this.
The problem I now have with these recipes is that I can’t give credit where credit is due … and this is one of those recipes.
I originally sourced a Baked Lemon Tart recipe from Gourmet Traveller magazine, where they asked a cafe in Tasmania for the recipe after one of their readers had been there and fell in love with it. The magazine featuring the recipe is long gone (it would have to be 20 years old!), but I took a clipping at the time which is what I now use as my reference.
Each time I made the tart I have slightly adjusted it and can now see that it is a bit different to the original, but it is definitely the inspiration for this recipe as it stands today.
The original recipe used 2 egg yolks in the pastry, but I have chosen to use 1 whole egg … the egg yolks will give you a beautiful tender pastry, but it is slightly harder to manage … using the whole egg gives me the best of both worlds … a tender crust but a bit more sturdy for when I am rolling it out.
I also prefer to make the tart in a 28cm tart tin so have adjusted the filling ingredients for this … if you don’t have a tin this size, then a 25 or 26cm tart tin is fine … this will mean you will quite possibility have a little filling left over … don’t throw it out … it is too precious. Just use it to make your normal custard, just replace the same quantity of milk with the leftover filling and you will end up with a deliciously scented lemon custard. If you have any pastry scrapes leftover, keep them in the fridge for a couple of days and make some little jam tarts out of them for the kids … they will love them!
Pastry has also been one of my food challenges over time, but I have now made peace with it … what I have learned is to just relax with it, don’t over handle it, and if all else fails just pick up the pieces and lay it into your tart case (a tip I learned from Jamie Oliver … love that man!). I recently posted a recipe for my basic shortcrust pastry and added in some tips for managing pastry in general (see here) which is relevant to this pastry as well.
This pastry keeps well in the fridge for a couple of days, and can be frozen for up to three months.
I like to make the tart on the day I am planning to serve it, as once baked it will sit happily to the side for a few hours until you are ready to serve it. Any leftover should be cut into serving sizes and placed into a sealed container in the fridge to consume the next day. The pastry will then be a touch softer but still firm. Beyond the next day the tart is still fine, but again the pastry will be a toucher softer … but still very edible!
Ingredients
Method
- Place butter, sugar and salt into TM bowl andmix 20 seconds / speed 4
- Add egg and mix 20 seconds / speed 4
- Add flour and knead 30 seconds … mix will clump together, scrape around bowl and knead again for 10 seconds
- Remove mix onto a silicon mat or baking paper, flour your hands and lightly bring the pastry together into a round flattened disk
- Dust pastry disk with a little flour, wrap in Gladwrap and refrigerate for one hour
- Roll pastry out on floured surface until it is slightly larger than the base of the tart tin you are using (place tart tin on top of rolled out pastry to check size) ... I like to get it to about 5 to 6mm thickness
- Using your rolling pin, gently lift the pastry and place onto tart tin
- Lift the edge of the pastry and gently place the base into the corners using your fingers to lightly press the pastry into the fluted edges of your tin
- Trim the top of the pastry (I lightly press my fingers onto the pastry sitting on the edges to do this), place tin onto a baking tray and refrigerate for 30 minutes
- Preheat oven to 160 degrees fan forced, and place rack into middle of oven
- Line pastry with baking paper and baking beads (do not prick base for this tart), place tray into oven and bake tart shell for 25 minutes, or until the top edges are golden (it takes 30 minutes in my oven)
- Remove baking paper and beads (the base will look damp with butter but don’t be concerned as that will allow it to colour nicely) and continue baking for a further 15 to 20 minutes until the base is golden
- NB: Ensure the base is golden before removing (It takes an extra 20 minutes in my oven), as once the filling is in the tart it will bake at a low temperature for only 35 minutes so the crust will not cook too much more, but you want it to be relatively crisp when the tart is finished, and this pre-baking helps with that
- Cool pastry completely before continuing with the filling … this will take around 45 to 60 minutes
- When cool, preheat oven to 160 degrees fan forced, then commence with the filling
- Place zest and sugar into TM bowl and mix 10 seconds / speed 10
- Scrape around bowl, add eggs and mix 10 seconds / speed 4 to combine (this will ensure the eggs are properly corporated into the sugar before you add the cream and lemon juice)
- Add the lemon juice and cream and blend 10 seconds / reverse / speed 2.5 (mixing at a low speed on reverse will help to minimise froth),
- Scrape into the bowl reaching to the bottom to ensure you are catching all the ingredients, and mix again for 10 seconds / reverse / speed 2.5
- Pour lemon mixture through a fine sieve into a jug to catch any “bits” from the lemon zest and eggs giving you a lovely fine texture ... if there are any bubbles on top of the filling push them against the edge of the jug to disperse
- Take baking tray with the tart pastry case to a bench near the oven (the closer you are to the oven, the easier it is to get the filled tart case into the oven without spilling the filling)
- Slowly pour filling into the case over the back of a spoon sitting just above the pastry (again this helps to minimise bubbles) and place gently into the oven
- Bake for 35 minutes, or until filling is just set (you want a very slight wobble in the middle but do not want the top to colour … it takes 40 minutes in my oven)
- Remove and allow to cool completely before serving
- If desired, dust with icing sugar before serving
Notes
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