Lemon curd tart （柠檬塔）

 

This sweet and sour lemon tart is a great appetizer and treat with a cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon.

French lemon tarts need to be baked in the oven while this lemon tart only requires putting the prepared lemon curd into the baked pastry crust. The process is comparatively easy. The flavour of the lemon tart will be cooler and refreshing if you refrigerate it for an hour or overnight.  What a delectable and cool treat. You may increase the filling's sugar content if you are sensitive to sourness.

This lemon curd tart has a creamy lemon curd center and a pastry crust that is crisp but sweet.  Although you can purchase lemon curd, I strongly advise making your own because it is simple to do and has a much better flavor. Lemon curd is a very rich dessert topping or spread.  It has a strong acidic lemon flavor and is buttery and sweet. Simple ingredients are used to make lemon curd, which cooks up fast. Lemon lovers, you'll adore this.

Lemon, both the zest and juice, are the main ingredients in lemon curd, along with sugar, eggs, and butter. To smooth out the curd's flavor and consistency, butter and lemon zest are added after the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice have been slowly heated until thick and custard-like. Lemon curd is fantastic because it can be prepared in advance and stored, covered, in the refrigerator for about a week.

Lemon curd's tangy flavor and creamy smooth texture are ideally balanced by the pastry crust's sweet flavor and crisp but crumbly texture. It is necessary to prebake the crust, and as always, make sure to prick the bottom of the crust prior to baking to prevent from puffing up. The pastries are baked until they are totally dry and have a light brown color. The lemon curd can then be poured into the pastry crust once it has cooled. Additionally, it makes a delicious treat whether you eat it plain or with whipped cream and fresh fruit.

I used a saucepan of simmering water to cook my lemon curd, which helped keep the yolks from curdling. “Simmering” meaning as the point just short of a boil, that is, when bubbles begin to appear. Go ahead and raise the temperature in your pot if your curd isn't thickening.

I can make one 6" pastry shell and five 2" muffin cup-sized pastry shells using this pastry recipe. Or you could just use muffin cups to form the entire dough.

INGREDIENTS

Lemon curd

3 large eggs

100g sugar

50ml fresh lemon juice

60g butter at room temperature

1 tbsp lemon zest

 

METHOD

Whisk together the eggs, sugar, and lemon juice in a stainless-steel dish set over a pot of simmering water. Cook the mixture until thick, stirring frequently to avoid curdling. To get rid of any lumps, remove from heat and pour right away through a small strainer. Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. When the butter has melted, add the lemon zest after allowing to settle. Before filling the pastry crust, let the mixture cool to room temperature and cover quickly with plastic wrap to avoid the development of a skin. As it cools, the lemon curd will continue to thicken as it cools.

Butter pastry

100g butter

1 egg

70g icing sugar

220g plain flour

 

METHOD

1) Preheat the oven to 180°C.

2) In a bowl, combine softened unsalted butter and icing sugar. Whisk until combined and smooth. Add egg to the mixture. Whisk until combined.

3) Sift  flour into the mixture. Mix until a dough is formed. I divided the dough into two equal portions. For the first portion, roll out the pastry to fit into a 6” tart pan (the size should bigger than the tart pan). To prevent the pastry from sticking to the counter, keep lifting up and turning the pastry. Once the dough is rolled out, simple roll it onto the rolling pin. Unroll onto the top of the tart pan. Gently lay in pan and with your fingertips, lightly press the pastry onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan.  

4) For the second portion, divide the dough into 5 equal balls. Gently press the dough into small and oven-safe paper cupcake molds. Lightly prick bottom of pastry crust with the tines of a fork, to prevent the dough from puffing up as it bakes.  Place them on a baking pan. Baked for 10 – 15 minutes or until the crust is dry and lightly golden brown.

5. Put the lemon curd in a piping bag, pipe the lemon filling into the cooled tart shells. Or using a spoon to fill each tart shell. This lemon curd tart can be served immediately or refrigerator to chill, at least 1 hour or up to overnight.