Tarte au Citron
I decided on something fresh for dessert after serving a lamb tagine to guests on Deon’s birthday. After a search I again found the perfect recipe in one of Marlene van der Westhuizen’s recipe books, called Sumptuous – Food from the heart of France to the Cape. Gerda Genis was responsible for the beautiful photography. I made her Tarte au Citron, a classic lemon tart.
Ingredients
1 roll ready-made short pastry, defrosted
9 eggs
350 g castor sugar
Zest of 2 lemons
Juice of 5 lemons
250 ml thick cream
75 g icing sugar
Method
Turn the oven to 180 deg C/Gas 3. Grease a flan tin with a removable base, and fold the pastry into it. Gently use the knuckles of your fingers to ease the dough into the corners, allowing a small overhang (don’t trim it off). Line with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans (you could use dry lentils or rice). Bake for about 10 minutes, then remove from the oven and lift away the paper and ‘filling’. Trim the dough and return to the oven for 10 more minutes, then take out and turn the oven down to about 120 deg C/Gas 1.
In the meantime, whisk the eggs with the sugar and zest until light and creamy. Stir in the lemon juice and then gently fold in the cream. Remove any froth before pouring into the hot pastry case. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the filling has set.
As you take the tart out of the oven, switch on the grill. Sieve the icing sugar over the tart and slide it briefly under the hot grill to caramelise.
Serve immediately.
Comments
Tarte au Citron — 22 Comments
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