Warm Lemon Tart

My latest Cuisine magazine had lots of recipes I wanted to try and this Lemon tart looked great. I really liked the fact that it was warm rather than cold since we are in the middle of winter.

My blind baked pastry was not fantastic. I used rice instead of baking beans (I'm buying baking beans asap!) and the sides slipped down quite a bit making my tart base more shallow than it should have been. The good side of this was that I got to try the filling on its own as the recipe suggested a
s another option. It was really nice.

I'd make this again - with or without the pastry

Warm Lemon Tart

Short pastry
180g flour
pinch of salt
135g unsalted butter, chilled, diced

Put the flour and salt in a food processor. Pulse once to distribute the salt evenly then add the butter and pulse until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add 3 tablespoons chilled water and pulse once or twice, but don’t allow the mix to form a ball. 

Turn out on a clean bench and knead lightly to bring the pastry together. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for at least an hour. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until 4mm thick. Place in a 25cm round tart tin and trim. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before baking. 

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Prick the tart base with a fork then cover with baking paper and fill with dried beans, rice or ceramic beans. Blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 5-10 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Cool on a rack before filling. This tart base can be made a day ahead and kept in an airtight container. 

For the tart
75g unsalted softened butter
150g caster sugar
5 eggs, separated
4 tablespoons flour, sifted
zest and juice of 4-5 lemons (you will need 150ml juice)
icing sugar to serve

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Put the butter and sugar in a food processor and process until well combined. Add the egg yolks and process to combine. Add the flour and blitz briefly to combine then add the lemon zest and juice and process to combine.

Transfer the mix to a bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until light and fluffy then fold gently through the lemon mix. Spoon into the pastry case and smooth the top then bake for 35-40 minutes until golden on top. 

Dust with icing sugar before serving.