Receta French Lemon Cream Tart...
The other night, after a few rousing hours with his good friend Jack, the mister came home in jolly form, scarfed up his dinner and retired to the boudior in record time to watch his nightly fill of re-runs. I was much too busy to join him, feverishly working to finish up a few projects. He was not happy that I was not there to watch him wield the remote with one hand and change channels at 6-second intervals, which is probably why he was asleep when I finally went to bed. I tried not to wake him up, but as I crawled into bed, he mumbled, "I'm going to phase you out." WHAT?!? Risking bodily harm, I poked the bear, and demanded that he say it again...just in case I heard wrong...he only laughed, said he didn't remember what he said and then rolled over...and he laughed again. HE'S GOING TO PHASE ME OUT!!! That's what he said - no doubt about it. So now you know, in case I go missing and there isn't a post for a very long time...you know who to point the finger at. I'm going to phase you out...don't you think that's something a Soprano would say?
First you make the crust - couldn't be easier! Rolled between two sheets of plastic wrap, then pushed into place with fingers into tarts shells and THEN into the freezer for 30 minutes. (Freezing will prevent the crusts from shrinking so weights are not needed.) The crust will have almost a shortbread-like texture - it's very buttery and delicious. I learned a little trick from Dorie, she suggests using all but a little bit of dough to make the crust - she saves the extra dough so if the crust cracks while in the freezer she can "repair" it...clever, no? I doubled this recipe - needed tarts for some tarts I know - but one recipe of pastry dough is enough for a 9-inch tart.
Making the lemon cream filling is easy, too...but plan on starting this recipe the day BEFORE you want to serve it, as it needs at least 4 hours of refrigeration but overnight is best. You can make the lemon cream up to 4 days ahead of time (and even make and freeze it for up to 2 months, thawing in the refrigerator overnight) so this is a very versatile recipe and the perfect make-ahead dish for company.
Dorie Greenspan, truly a savant when it comes to baking, calls this, "The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart" and I'm certainly not going to argue with Dorie! Wouldn't think of it because it IS extraordinary in every way...creamy smooth, lemony tart, and "buttah-fied" beyond belief. This is not your average lemon curd filling - where butter is melted into the ingredients on the stove top...oh no...just when you think the curd has reached perfection, you remove it from the heat to a blender and THEN you add two-and-a-half-plus sticks of butter! I read and reread the recipe thinking that amount of butter must be a typo but I did as instructed, expecting to cross the "too much butter line," which is silly as no such line exists, and to my amazement, the butter, instead of melting, emulsified and turned the already perfect lemon curd into the most velvety and light lemon cream. Five dangs. Without a doubt. Five. It's dang, dang, dang, dang, dang good...If you like lemon desserts, this one's for you...If you're a lemon freak, you'll get your freak on for sure!
French Lemon Cream Tart - Adapted Slightly From Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan
Pastry - Tart Dough:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 stick plus 1 tablespoons very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1 large egg yolk
Put flour, powdered sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in - pieces should be about the size of small peas. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses, about 10 seconds each, until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing. Press the dough into a buttered 9-inch tart pan using your fingers or you can roll the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap and then set into pan. (The dough is very sticky so rolling it out on the counter will not work.) Save a small piece of dough, as mentioned above, to use to repair any cracks from freezing. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking.
Remove crust from freezer and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Adjust rack to center of the oven. Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon. Bake for another 8 minutes or so, or until it is firm and golden brown. Remove and cool to room temperature before filling.
Lemon Cream Filling:
1 cup sugar
grated zest of 3 lemons
4 large eggs
3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from 4 to 5 lemons)
2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces, at room temperature
Have an instant read thermometer on hand, a strainer and a blender. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in the bottom of a double boiler.
Put the sugar and zest in the top of the double boiler and before placing on the heat, rub the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. Whisk in the eggs, followed by the lemon juice. Set on top of the simmering water and start stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. Cook the lemon cream until it reaches 180 degrees. As you whisk - constantly - to keep the eggs from scrambling - you'll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as it gets closer to 180 degrees, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. The tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don't stop whisking or checking the temperature, and have patience, depending on how much heat you're giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes. As soon as it reaches 180 degrees, remove the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of the blender; discard the zest. Let the cream stand, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140 degrees, about 10 minutes. Turn the blender to high and, with the machine going, add the butter about 5 pieces at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed as you incorporate the butter. Once the butter is in, keep the machine going - to get the perfect light, airy texture of lemon-cream dreams, you must continue to blend the cream for another 3 minutes. If your machine protests and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats.
Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and refrigerate for at least 4 hour or overnight. When ready to assemble the tart, just whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the tart shell. Serve the tart, or refrigerate until needed. Serves 8.
This tart needs nothing - it absolutely can stand on it's own - but if you just can't help yourself, a little bit of whipped cream and a few fresh raspberries will lead you to your happy place...and if you REALLY can't help yourself, top this with a bit of meringue...need I say more?