Lemon Tart

When I think of fruits in dessert I think of lemon tart. On our trip to Paris we indulged in lemon tarts in the little cafes along the side of the road. Most of them had outdoor seating as well and since we visited in summer we sat outside.

The crust for this recipe was adapted from here. I had noted down the lemon curd recipe a long time ago but never made it before. Though it was a good first attempt I would call this recipe a work in progress. Over time I will continue to refine it and update this post.

You will need
For the crust
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. salt

For the filling
3 lemons
1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp. butter
2 large eggs
2 egg yolks

To make the crust
Preheat oven to 425 F. Mix the flour and the salt. Add the oil and cold milk and mix together to form a sticky dough. Roll out the dough between parchment paper and transfer to a round pan. Prick the bottom with the tines of a fork about 8 times. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the crust begins to brown. Take it out of the oven and put on a cooling rack to cool.

To make the filling
Lower the heat in the oven to 350 F. Grate the zest of one of the three lemons. Now squeeze the juice of all three lemons and add to the zest in a pan. Cut the butter into pieces and add to the pan along with the sugar. Heat the pan and stir the mixture frequently until the sugar and butter melts.

Whisk the eggs yolks with the egg whites in a separate bowl. Ladle a little of the lemon mixture into the eggs stirring continuously. Lower the heat and pour the beaten eggs into the pan whisking continuously. The mixture will thicken gradually. Continue whisking until the lemon curd is cooked and heated through. You will notice the color begin to change and the mixture would have thickened considerably.

Pour it over the baked crust and bake for 5 minutes to set the curd. Let it cool completely. Serve cut up into wedges.

This is my entry for week three, day one of BM #37 for the theme Fruit based desserts. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#37.