Tarte au Citron

February 26, 2008

A treat akin to marmalade is lemon (or orange) tart. The mother's traditional role in many a culture has been to provide warm affection, often in the tangible form of sweets and desserts. I am fond of the expression "As American as Mom and apple pie." There are French equivalents of apple pie; they include crème caramel, île flottante (otherwise knows as oeufs à la neige), and tarte au citron.

My friend, Chef Cindy Goldman, comments that this is everything a delightful little lemon tart should be—sweet, tart, and pretty with a nice, crisp crust. Rosettes of sweetened whipped cream topped with candied lemon peel make a nice garnish. Precooking the lemon filling, as suggested in this recipe, will ensure that it sets properly.

Tart Shell:

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 stick (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 or 3 tablespoons ice-cold water
1 egg yolk

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.

2. Combine flour, salt, sugar, and butter in a food processor and blend until coarse crumbs form.

3. Turn the mixture into a bowl. Sprinkle ice-cold water over it and mix with a fork until it forms a ball. Add additional drops of water if it is too dry.

4. Form dough into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate to rest for at least 30 minutes.

5. Roll out dough on a lightly floured board to fit a 9-inch tart pan. Fit dough into pan and prick all over with a fork. Line the tart with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights (or with rice, beans, etc.)

6. Bake shell until slightly firm around the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove foil and weights and continue to bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes more.

7. Brush entire inside of crust with egg yolk to seal and cool.

Filling:

2 lemons, zest removed and chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1 9-inch tart shell, baked blind and brushed with egg yolk (see the recipe above)

1. Juice the lemons into a saucepan, add the zest, sugar, and eggs to the juice, and whisk to combine.

2. Set pan over low heat and stir constantly to thicken slightly.

3. Remove from heat and strain into a bowl.

4. Stir in butter and pour into prepared tart shell.

5. Bake until filling is jiggly in center, about 20 minutes.

6. Cool on a rack to room temperature, then chill and garnish as desired.

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