2012 Cooking Club Week 17: Lemon Tarte

Chong

I have been wracking my brain for weeks as to what to make I decided upon Lemon Tarte I hope ye like it , its a classic adapted from Marco Pierre White that my family love.





Lemon Tarte

For the Pastry:

225g plain flour
pinch of salt
150g unsalted butter, cold
75g icing sugar
2 egg


For the Filling:

3 large unwaxed lemons
4 eggs
1 egg yolk
150g caster sugar
200ml double cream



Method:

1) Cut the butter up into cubes and rub in to the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. The key when making pastry is to always use the tips of your fingers, when you have made the pastry and look at your hands they should never have flour on your palms. Add the salt, icing sugar and two eggs ( whisked briefly in a cup beforehand), bring the mixture together to form a ball of dough. Note that this mixture will be quite wet unlike regular shortcrust pastry. It is vital that the pastry is chilled for at least 2 hours in the fridge or overnight which is what I did. It allows the pastry to harden which in turn makes it easier to roll out.

2) Line a 22cm dish with butter and flour, preheating the oven to 180c/350f. When you take the pastry out of the fridge roll out on a floured surface to the size of the dish, making sure to take care when placing in to the dish, as you don't want the pastry to break. If it breaks just simply patch the holes up with some left over pastry. When you have lined the dish do not cut off the excess yet as it will prevent shrinkage. Now place baking beans in to the centre of the pastry, this is called blind baking, this allows for the pastry to be cooked some what before the mixture is added. Place in the oven and bake for 20 mins.

3) Separate an egg and reserve the white and yolk in separate bowls. In the bowl with the egg white add a pinch of salt, and one tablespoon of water.

4) Mix the 4 eggs and the reserved egg yolk from the previous step with the caster sugar. Whisk until the mixture is glossy and has doubled in size. In separate bowl whisk the cream until it forms soft peaks. Add the cream to the egg/sugar mixture , stirring in with a metal spoon.

5) Zest and juice 3 lemons and add to the mixture.

6) After the 20 minute mark take the pastry case out of the oven removing the baking beans. Brush the inside with the egg white mix and place back in the oven for 10 minutes allowing to brown.

7) When the pastry case is ready, remove from the oven and allow to cool. Once cool trim around the edges and remove the excess pastry, this makes for a nice snack whilst making the tarte.

8) Now place back on the baking tray in the oven, now you can add the filling to the pastry case. This prevents the mix sloshing about when you lift it from the counter to the oven. Bake for 55 mins until golden and still has a slight wobble.

9) Remove from the oven and allow to cool, this will help the setting of the mixture once out of the oven. Once cool dust with icing sugar.

Little Alex

I love tarte au citron! I'll be making this one soon!

Chong

Little Alex wrote: »

I love tarte au citron! I'll be making this one soon!

Well I made this for my other half and she loved it, thats saying something as she generally hates egg based tartes.

Faith

That looks fabulous! My mum would adore it. I'll have to make it for her the next time I'm over there .

Medicine333

I made lemon tart this day last week! It was my first time having it, and the recipe was ok.

I must try this one though-it looks lovely!:)

Mrs Fox

My mouth is watering

ChewChew

Mrs Fox wrote: »

My mouth is watering

Thank god it's not just me


I'm not doing a thing tomorrow... and my neighbour just dropped in some fresh eggs from her hens so I think I know what I'm doing tomorrow

Chong

ChewChew wrote: »

Thank god it's not just me


I'm not doing a thing tomorrow... and my neighbour just dropped in some fresh eggs from her hens so I think I know what I'm doing tomorrow

Brilliant guys, I really do hope you enjoy it

shinikins

Chong, I love you. That just looks gorgeous, I'll have to make it!!!

BaZmO*

I tend to do a little sigh whenever there's a dessert recipe, but every now and then there's one that I have to try. I'll definitely do this one over the next week or two. Looks great!

BaZmO*

Made the pastry earlier and it's sitting in the fridge as I type. The pastry was really really wet though. I tried to add more flour but I didn't want to work it too much, so I scooped it all out of the bowl and put it in some clingfilm and stuck it in the fridge, hopefully it comes good. I think I may have used too much egg. I only had large eggs so I used slightly less than two.

Couldn't get unwaxed lemons either (tried everywhere!!) so just gonna use waxed ones.

Chong

BaZmO* wrote: »

Made the pastry earlier and it's sitting in the fridge as I type. The pastry was really really wet though. I tried to add more flour but I didn't want to work it too much, so I scooped it all out of the bowl and put it in some clingfilm and stuck it in the fridge, hopefully it comes good. I think I may have used too much egg. I only had large eggs so I used slightly less than two.

Couldn't get unwaxed lemons either (tried everywhere!!) so just gonna use waxed ones.

Dont worry about it being wet, you dont want to roll this pastry as such, you should be able to press the paste in to the baking dish and that will be perfect.

BaZmO*

Chong wrote: »

Dont worry about it being wet, you dont want to roll this pastry as such, you should be able to press the paste in to the baking dish and that will be perfect.

I think I made a mess out of it tbh. I think the biggest problem is that I used large eggs. The pastry was way too wet, and I think I rolled it out too thick. When I blind baked it it was kinda like a sponge. There was also loads of the filling left over. I could of gone again another 2 times with the amount that was left.

Are you sure that your dish is only 22cm? I bought a baking tin that is 20cm as I couldn't get a 22cm, the next up was 24cm and I was worried that there wouldn't be enough filling. I'm baffled as to why I ended up with so much.

Anyway, it's sitting on the counter cooling so I'll see how it turned out tomorrow.

Chong

BaZmO* wrote: »

I think I made a mess out of it tbh. I think the biggest problem is that I used large eggs. The pastry was way too wet, and I think I rolled it out too thick. When I blind baked it it was kinda like a sponge. There was also loads of the filling left over. I could of gone again another 2 times with the amount that was left.

Are you sure that your dish is only 22cm? I bought a baking tin that is 20cm as I couldn't get a 22cm, the next up was 24cm and I was worried that there wouldn't be enough filling. I'm baffled as to why I ended up with so much.

Anyway, it's sitting on the counter cooling so I'll see how it turned out tomorrow.

100% 22cm, now mine was wet but after a good refridgeration it was perfect and wasnt sponge-ish per se. I hope it turns out ok for you.

BaZmO*

Chong wrote: »

100% 22cm, now mine was wet but after a good refridgeration it was perfect and wasnt sponge-ish per se. I hope it turns out ok for you.

Thanks. What size eggs do you use?

Chong

BaZmO* wrote: »

Thanks. What size eggs do you use?

Now generally I use large but in this instance I made it in my parents house, and they only buy medium so in this it would be medium, in fact I will go back to the above recipe and stipulate the size. However when I bake , I always err on the side of caution when adding liquids and only add slowly making sure to judge the wetness of the mix

BaZmO*

I just went out and had a look. I cut a slice and my suspicions were right, I made the pastry too thick. The pastry to filling ratio is the opposite of what you have in your Tarte. That aside, it's actually perfect. The pastry is lovely, as is the filling. I'll stick up a pic tomorrow to show you just how wrong I got it. :D

I'll definitely make this again as it does taste great, I just wish I'd gotten it right first time!

Chong

BaZmO* wrote: »

I just went out and had a look. I cut a slice and my suspicions were right, I made the pastry too thick. The pastry to filling ratio is the opposite of what you have in your Tarte. That aside, it's actually perfect. The pastry is lovely, as is the filling. I'll stick up a pic tomorrow to show you just how wrong I got it. :D

I'll definitely make this again as it does taste great, I just wish I'd gotten it right first time!

As long as it tastes good, people will love you for it!

ChewChew

Baz, any pics yet? I didn't get to make this, as I didn't have a dish or beads! I was very disappoint! But I'm definitely going to pick one up during the week!

BaZmO*

ChewChew wrote: »

Baz, any pics yet?

Here ya go!



As you can see, the ratio of filling to pastry is all wrong, but it tastes great!

ChewChew wrote: »

..as I didn't have a dish or beads!

I just used rice. The beads are ridiculously expensive for what they are, you can use anything really, just so long as it won't melt!

Chong

BaZmO* wrote: »

Here ya go!



As you can see, the ratio of filling to pastry is all wrong, but it tastes great!



I just used rice. The beads are ridiculously expensive for what they are, you can use anything really, just so long as it won't melt!

Still looks really good, I always use rice too.

ChewChew

BaZmO* wrote: »

Here ya go!


As you can see, the ratio of filling to pastry is all wrong, but it tastes great!



I just used rice. The beads are ridiculously expensive for what they are, you can use anything really, just so long as it won't melt!

Baz!!!! wow it looks great!

Tbh, I actually didn't even know what the beads are so a few friends have helped and given me so ideas


I really wanna try it now after seeing your effort! :pac:

_blank_

ChewChew wrote: »

Baz!!!! wow it looks great!

Tbh, I actually didn't even know what the beads are so a few friends have helped and given me so ideas


I really wanna try it now after seeing your effort! :pac:

Rice on top of greaseproof paper works as well as those beads.

the-ging

Des wrote: »

Rice on top of greaseproof paper works as well as those beads.

A tip I saw on How to cook like Heston, was to use coins as your baking beans (everybody has a coin jar), the good think about the coins is that as they heat in the oven the help to cook the pastry faster.

But yes I do love some lemon tart.

BaZmO*

the-ging wrote: »

A tip I saw on How to cook like Heston, was to use coins as your baking beans (everybody has a coin jar), the good think about the coins is that as they heat in the oven the help to cook the pastry faster.

Ahh, I was wondering where I'd seen the coins thing before. I was actually going to use coins but I wanted to go through my coin jar and just take out the coppers and use them, didn't have the time though. I think I'd also want to soak the coins in some bleach first before using them as I'd say they wouldn't be too hygienic.

_blank_

BaZmO* wrote: »

Ahh, I was wondering where I'd seen the coins thing before. I was actually going to use coins but I wanted to go through my coin jar and just take out the coppers and use them, didn't have the time though. I think I'd also want to soak the coins in some bleach first before using them as I'd say they wouldn't be too hygienic.

The heat in the oven would surely kill off any nasties.

Also, if you stick them on top of some greaseproof, they won't come into contact with the base anyway.

BaZmO*

Des wrote: »

The heat in the oven would surely kill off any nasties.

Yeah I know, but still. Eurrgghhh! Still a bit manky.

Des wrote: »

Also, if you stick them on top of some greaseproof, they won't come into contact with the base anyway.

True again.

shinikins

I'd soak them in vinegar rather than bleach Bazmo, even if there's a small trace of bleach left on the coins it will heat up in the oven and the taste will cook into the pastry!

BaZmO*

shinikins wrote: »

I'd soak them in vinegar rather than bleach Bazmo, even if there's a small trace of bleach left on the coins it will heat up in the oven and the taste will cook into the pastry!

If I was doing it I'd probably just use a bleach and vinegar mix. It's a home made solution I use when sterilising equipment when homebrewing.

shinikins

BaZmO* wrote: »

If I was doing it I'd probably just use a bleach and vinegar mix. It's a home made solution I use when sterilising equipment when homebrewing.

Are you sure that's a good idea? The two combined release chlorine gas, fairly toxic and can kill. I'd use neat distilled vinegar, or vinegar and Bicarbonate of Soda to clean especially around foodstuffs.

BaZmO*

shinikins wrote: »

Are you sure that's a good idea? The two combined release chlorine gas, fairly toxic and can kill. I'd use neat distilled vinegar, or vinegar and Bicarbonate of Soda to clean especially around foodstuffs.

It's only a bad idea if you mix them neat. NEVER mix them neat. Put them into water separately. I've been doing it for years.

Little Alex

This is my first Cooking Club recipe so far this year.



Thanks, Chong!

I used dried chickpeas for the blind baking.

Chong

Little Alex wrote: »

This is my first Cooking Club recipe so far this year.



Thanks, Chong!

I used dried chickpeas for the blind baking.

Looks Excellent!!

Glad you like it and it turned out well

ChewChew

I finally got around to making this, but it looking nowt like I thought it should. Like BazMo I ended up with a ridiculous amount of filling left over, so don't want to waste it so I might attempt again tomorrow. I haven't made pastry since I was in 3rd year in school, so for my first attempt in 13 years, I think I did ok. I tasted it, and its yum. I can't understand why mine when so dark with a crisp layer on top. Anyways, not to worry, it is yummy!!

Little Alex

ChewChew wrote: »

I can't understand why mine when so dark with a crisp layer on top. Anyways, not to worry, it is yummy!!

It still looks great though, ChewChew.

I lowered the oven temperature after baking the case: I did the case at 180 degrees or so and the filling at about 130. For me cheesecake and custard-type stuff seems to bake the way I like at that temperature.

John Mason

I made this yesterday and i was lovely.

Will definately make again, i think i might even add it to my fansty come dine with me menu

No photos cos it will didnt look the best, it got slightly burnt. Just got a new cooker and still figuring out the oven tempeture

confusticated

I've made this a good few times now, it's become my go-to fancy cake. Pastry takes a bit of work and the first go of it wasn't great, but it's really rich so I'm glad I persevered! I brought it into work a few weeks ago and it was devoured and a few people there have tried it out since, so thanks a million!

Chong

confusticated wrote: »

I've made this a good few times now, it's become my go-to fancy cake. Pastry takes a bit of work and the first go of it wasn't great, but it's really rich so I'm glad I persevered! I brought it into work a few weeks ago and it was devoured and a few people there have tried it out since, so thanks a million!

Excellent stuff I am glad you enjoy it

IvyTheTerrible

I made this yesterday, it is absolutely gorgeous, all the guests loved it. I'll definitely make it again. So lemony!

Chong

Brilliant Ivy, glad to hear you like it so much