I know it is Pumpkin time… but maybe you should add this delicious Lemon Tart into your fall menu!
I tore this recipe out of a magazine, my magazine & have kept it for years but just never made it. If I want a lemon tart I usually buy one! But not any more! This tart was actually simple to make, I served it on a dessert buffet table & some of our guests asked me where I bought it from!
I made this tart & froze it until I wanted to serve it/ Worked out perfectly!
The recipe is from Canadian Living magazine 2005.. French Lemon Tart
I didn’t change anything in the recipe except it called for apple jelly to glaze the top of the tart, I didn’t have any & left it of, so I am not including it in the recipe since I don’t know how the tart tastes with it! I was worried about making the lemon curd… would it be smooth, hopefully I wouldn’t burn it…. it turned out great!
There are some groceries you will most likely have to go buy..
***you need 8 eggs & fresh lemons to make 1/4 cup of lemon juice, so I would have 2 or 3 lemons on hand… sometimes they don’t give lots of juice. & you need butter, not margarine
TIPS
*** the recipe calls for 4 egg yolks… you can keep these & make meringues with them! or even a pavlova
*** make the filling before you make the crust. The filling takes about 20 minutes to cook & 2 hours to cool so you can organize your time if you do the filling first
*** There are several stages & long cooling times for the stages for this tart…. 2 hours for the filling once it is cooked, cooling time for the crust & 2 hours cooling time for the finished tart. This is why I made it days before I was going to serve it & popped it covered well in the freezer..then I took it out of the freezer the morning I was going to serve it, put it in the fridge to defrost then it was ready to go in the evening
Heres the recipe…. you should give it a try!
You need a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom ( I had to borrow one from my friend!… my tart pan does not have a removable bottom, but this tart is so good I am going to buy one)
Ingredients
Lemon Filling
5 eggs
3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp cold butter
Crust
1/2 cup cold butter, cube the butter
1 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp water
3 egg yolks
Method
Filling
- This is should be made in a double boiler, but I don’t have one so I use a bowl that sits over a saucepan without falling into the pot! Put some water in the bottom of your pot, turn it on & bring it to a simmer, then you can put the bowl over the water…the bowl should not touch the water
- In the bowl or top of the double boiler…whisk the eggs, egg yolks & lemon juice together. Put over the simmering water & cook until the mixture is translucent & thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. It is very important to stir this often so that it doesn’t not get thick in some spots & not all over..Watch it closely This can take about 15-20 minutes to cook
- While this is cooking, get a fine strainer ready over a bowl & a wooden spoon or silicone spatula
- When the filling is finished cooking, pour it into the strainer over the bowl & mix it until all of it has gone through the stainer
- Add the butter to the hot filling & stir
- Cover the filling with plastic wrap.. put it right on top of the filling so that a scum does not form
- Put into the refigerator for 2 hours or you can make it 24 hours ahead
Crust
- Cube the butter & set aside. If you are going to be awhile before using the butter, put it in the fridge to stay cold until you are ready to use it
- Whisk the flour & sugar together in a bowl
- Add the cubed butter & using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour/sugar until fine crumbs with a few larger pieces of butter
- Whisk the egg yolk with the water & drizzle this over the flour mixture
- Using a fork, mix until the dough clumps together
- Turn this out onto a very lightly floured work surface
- Press into a smooth ball & flatten
- Roll into a circle 11″ so it will fit into a 9 inch tart pan… if you need to flour your rolling pin, use a small amount of flour
- Put the rolled dough into the tart pan
- Gently let it settle into the pan, press it into the sides so it sits flat
- Trim the edges
- Refrigerate the crust for 30 minutes….
- the recipe says you can make this up to 24 hours before you want to bake it.. cover & keep in the fridge
- When the crust is cooling in the fridge, preheat the oven to 400f
- Before baking, prick the bottom crust all over with a fork
- Line the crust with a piece of foil & put some pie weights or dried been on the foil…this keeps the crust flat when baking
- Bake for 15-20 minutes until the top of the crust at the edge starts to turn brown. Remove the weights & foil…put back into the oven & bake for another 10 minutes or so until the crust is golden,,n
- Set aside on a rack to cool
Putting it Together
- Preheat oven to 325f
- Spoon the lemon pie filling into the cooled crust…try not to eat too much of this delicious filling as you do this! You want enough in the shell !!!
- Bake in the oven until the filling loses some of its shine & there is a thin skin one top…about 12 minutes
- Place on a rack to cool & chill in the fridge for 2 hours until it is cool
To Serve
Remove the edge of the tart pan & I was able to very carefully remove the bottom of the tart pan & put the tart onto a serving plate
Garnish
You can garnish your tart with fresh berries or sprinkle with icing sugar… that is what I did I tried to get it around the edge,,, you will see in the pictures










This is making me salivate! There is nothing like lemon, lots of it!