Heston's Lemon Tart

So I’d seen Heston make this lemon tart on the telly & he made it look ever so easy! Crisp golden pastry & zesty lemony filling with a dollop of creme fraiche on the side looked like dessert heaven to me.  And then as luck would have as a Birthday present his cook book Heston Blumenthal at Home arrived on my doorstep & I couldn’t resist a slice.

The tart did go down a treat for a Sunday lunch & as leftovers at work the next day.  So the tart is definitely worth the effort.  For me, my oven slightly over cooked the edges of the pastry & slightly under did the base if I was being really picky.  However, I think that’s because it wasn’t rolled out quite thin enough.  A little practice in pastry making called for. The filling is wonderful, smooth & just the right amount of sweet lemon flavour.  

Lemon Tart, from Heston Blumenthal at Home

Serves 10-12

Ingredients

For the pastry

120g icing sugar

3 large egg yolks

300g plain flour

150g unsalted butter

1/2 tsp salt

Seeds from half a vanilla pod

Zest of half a lemon, finely grated

For the filling

Finely grated zest & juice of 5 lemons

300g cream

390g caster sugar

9 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

To finish & serve

Icing sugar

Creme fraiche

Directions

For the pastry blitz the icing sugar & egg yolks in a tall container with a hand blender.  Place the flour, butter & salt in the bowl of a mixer with the paddle attachment & mix on low speed until it looks like cornmeal, 2-3 minutes.  Add the vanilla seeds & lemon zest & then add the egg yolk mixture & continue to mix on low speed until all combined & you have a soft dough.  About 3-5 minutes.

Shape the dough in to a flat rectangle, wrap in cling film & pop in the fridge for 1 hour.  After an hour remove from the fridge & roll the pastry out between 2 sheets of baking paper until 2mm thick & then place it in the freezer for half an hour.

Pre heat oven to 180C/350F

Line a 26cm tart tin (2.5cm deep) & spray with a little oil & then place in the pastry, letting the edges hang over.  Prick the base with a fork & place back in the freezer for another 10 minutes. Remove from the freezer & line the pastry case with scrumpled up baking paper & baking beans.  Place in the oven to bake for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes remove the baking paper & baking beans & pop back in the oven for another 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven & allow to cool a little. Trim the overhanging pastry by running a sharp knife around the top of the tart tin & discard & leave the tart to cool completely.

When ready to bake pre heat the oven to 120C/250F & place the tart in the oven to warm up.

Place all the filling ingredients in a bowl & mix together using a spatula.  Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water & allow to warm up until the temperature reaches 62C/144F.  At this point strain the mixture through a fine sieve in to a jug.  Remove any bubbles from the surface with a spoon.

Slide the oven rack out a little & pour in the filling.  Fill the case to the top & carefully slide the rack back in & bake for about 25 minutes until the temperature reaches 70C/158F or until just set, I totally forgot to take the temperature.  Allow to cool completely at room temperature.

Just before serving sprinkle over some icing sugar & serve with dollops of creme fraiche.

With a good dollop of creme fraiche it is a delightful dessert & the perfect end to a long lazy Sunday lunch.

If you like this you might like this Plum & Lemon Cake

One year ago Wanderings - Hawke's Bay

Two years ago Sweet Potato & Goat's Cheese Tarts

Three years ago Beef Bourguignon

This is also my entry for Sweet New Zealand being hosted by the ever so lovely Sue at Couscous & Consciousness.

Enjoy!