Classic Lemon Tart
Photography by Josh Griggs.
This has long been my ultimate go-to tart – simple perfection.
Serves: 8-10
INGREDIENTS
Pastry
110 grams cold butter, chopped
11/3 cups plain flour
1/3 cup icing sugar
finely grated zest 1 lemon
1 egg yolk, size 7
1-2 teaspoons iced water
oil spray
Filling
4 large eggs size 7
1 egg yolk, size 7
¾ cup caster sugar
250ml cream
250ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
Equipment: 25cm removable-base tart tin.
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°C regular bake.
Pastry: Put the butter in a food processor with the flour, sugar and zest. Pulse to combine then add the egg yolk and 1 teaspoon of the iced water. Pulse until the mixture forms clumpy breadcrumbs and starts coming together, adding the remaining water only if necessary. Tip out onto a clean bench and squash together into a pastry disc. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Remove the pastry from the fridge, let it sit for 5 minutes then roll out on a lightly floured surface until it is 5cm bigger than the tart tin. Spray the tin very lightly with oil and use a kitchen towel to wipe off any excess. Use a fish slice (I use a thin metal pizza paddle) to slip it off the bench and into the tin. Press firmly into the base and sides and prick the base lightly with a fork. Pop in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Filling: Whisk the eggs, yolk, sugar and cream together. Don’t whisk too hard or you will make it foamy and bubbly;
gently does it.
Put a large circle of baking paper into the pastry base and fill with baking beans, weights or rice. Cook for 12 minutes, remove the paper and weights and cook for a further 10 minutes. Put the tart base on a baking tray and place back in the oven.
Stir the lemon juice into the filling, pour it through a sieve into a jug and carefully pour straight into the base in the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C and bake for 25-30 minutes until the filling is just set, but still with a bit of wobble in the middle.
Cool in the tin before removing to serve to your very lucky guests!
latest issue:
Issue #122
Our latest of dish is an absolute bumper issue, packed with over 70 recipes! We start by chatting with the MasterChef Australia judges and Kiwi contestant Ben Mcdonald before cooking up the very best of what’s in season. Then we make freezer meals easy and delicious with double-batch cooking. Next up we share some of our faves including Pretzel-crumbed Chicken Schnitty and French Onion Soup Mac and Cheese. Then we whip up warming curries, tempting dinners for two, epic sides like our Parmesan-crusted Roasted Potatoes, and crowd pleasers like our cover-star Miso French Onion Chicken. We finish up with irresistible sweet treats and a run-down of top Aussie shiraz!