Photography: Cath Muscat
Lemon tart is one of those classic desserts that pleases a crowd. This one uses a good amount of lemon juice to give a zesty tang. The crust is made first with simple ingredients – flour, icing sugar, butter, an egg yolk and cold water. Once the pastry is made and cooked, it’s time to make the creamy lemon curd. This calls for eggs, sugar, cream and half a cup of lemon juice. Then you need to pop it in the fridge for three hours and you have a delicious dessert to share. Just before serving, give the lemon tart a dust with icing sugar for a professional look.
To try another tart with lemon as its hero, make this bitter lemon and honey tarte tatin. Or, for another lemon curd treat, try this shortbread. For more tart recipes, see this round-up of our top 10 tarts.
Ingredients
Method
To make pastry, put flour, icing sugar and butter in the bowl of a food processor. Process until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add egg yolk and water, then process until mixture begins to form a ball. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until just smooth. Enclose in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Grease a 23cm-wide and 4cm-deep flan tin with removable base. On a floured surface, roll out pastry to a 28cm round. Lift 1 end of pastry over rolling pin and carefully lift into prepared tin. Press pastry into tin. Trim edges. Freeze for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 200°C. Line pastry case with baking paper and fill with uncooked rice or baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 180°C. Remove baking paper and rice or beans, then bake for another 10 minutes or until pastry is lightly golden on the edges. Remove pastry case from oven, set aside, and reduce temperature to 150°C.
To make filling, whisk eggs, sugar, cream and juice until combined. Put pastry case on an oven tray. Pour filling into pastry case. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until just set in the middle (filling should still wobble when tart is gently shaken).
Stand tart, in tin, on a wire rack to cool. Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. Dust with icing sugar to serve.
