Tart Obsession Continues

Pictured, right, is the lemon tart I made for tonight's concert on the square. As I mentioned in a previous post, we're on again for our culinary challenge, and this week's theme ingredient is LEMON.

Luckily, I decided to make two recipes, because the first didn't come out at all as I had hoped. My "Lemon Rain Drop Cookies" were lifeless. It makes me so sad and frustrated when you follow the directions precisely, and your dessert looks nothing like what is pictured in the cookbook.

And so the tart must suffice. And I think it looks pretty good. We'll see how it tastes tonight. I used a batch of "Sweet Tart Dough," which is the same dough I used for the two rhubarb strawberry tarts I made in recent weeks. The dough recipe makes enough for three crusts, so it's been nice to simply reach in the freezer and roll it out, rather than make a new batch of dough each time.

For the filling, I used the following recipe from Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From my home to yours. Interestingly the recipe calls for whole lemons, excluding the seeds. So that's a sneak preview of my lemon contribution for tonight's picnic.

Lemon Tart Filling
2 Lemons
1.5 cups sugar
1 large egg, at room temp.
2 large egg yolks, at room temp.
1.5 Tbs. cornstarch
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled

1. Bake crust until golden and cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 325F.
3. Scrub the lemons and dry.
4. Cut the lemons into small pieces.
5. Place the lemon pieces and sugar together in a blender and process until a regular consistency 6. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until a smooth consistency has been formed.
7. Tap the blender on your bench top a few times to eliminate some of the bubble and pour into the tart crust.
8. Transfer the tart pan on top of a baking sheet to the oven and bake for 20 min.
9. Increase the temperature to 350F and bake for another 25-30 min. When the tart has finished baking it should be fairly set, and the top will have a sugary crust.
10. Transfer to a cooling rack and allow to cool to room temp.
11. This can be served at room temp. or chilled (it can be served two days after it has been made as long as it's kept in the fridge).