So we needed to whip up a quick pud for our second Christmas with the girls. We went for a tart au citron (lemon tart) because we didn’t want anything too rich or stodgy. Plus this was super super quick for us to make during our busy day.
Everyone loves a traditional tart, especially a lemon one as it’s sweet but also has that tart, sour taste of the lemon and is a good change from all the chocolate we have been eating during the holidays!
But still it is Christmas after all and it’s still time to indulge.
We began by blind baking a a pastry case till it was golden brown and crisp. We used a small, shallow tart tin and rolled our pastry out reeeeally thin because we didn’t want too much pudding (plus there was only 5 of us), however you can use a slightly bigger tart tin or a deeper one, there is enough filling, we had a little left over.
- 200g plain flour
- 100g butter, chilled
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- 2 tbsp cold water
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 3 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 95ml double cream
- 170g caster sugar
- 3 lemons, juice & zest
- In a food processor blitz together the butter and icing sugar for the pastry to create a breadcrumb texture, combine the egg and enough water to form a smooth dough, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 15mins.
- On a floured surface, roll out the pastry large enough to line a 20cm tart tin, pushing in at the edges (no need to trim the top yet), prick the base with a fork a few times and pop in the fridge for another 20mins.
- Blind bake your pastry case for 10mins at 200C (line with baking parchment & baking beans or rice), then reduce the temperature to 180C, remove the beans and parchment and bake again for another 10mins or until the pastry is a golden brown.
- Trim the excess pastry from the edge using a sharp knife, brush away any pastry crumbs from the inside of your tart case, leave to cool.
- To make your filling whisk together the eggs in a bowl, then whisk in the rest of the ingredients.
- Pour the mixture into your tart case and bake in the oven at 170C for around 30mins (it should still have a slight wobble in the centre), leave to cool.
We dusted ours with a heavy sprinkle of icing sugar to finish it off just to make it look extra pretty. Another way you can also finish is to use a clear glaze on top, a lot of the tarte au citrons you buy in the shops have this, you can just use a little bit of powedered gelatine & some water. Alternatively you can dust with icing sugar and use a blow torch for a creme brûlée finish – this is a really nice touch!
We did attempt to take a couple photos for you of the tart once it was sliced, but unfortunately the tart didn’t last long and was devoured in a few minutes. (It was extremely hard to resist).
