[alexia]

Hello, I'm new to the board, though I've been lurking for some weeks now. It's a great place. I like the friendly, helpful attitude here and the wonderful responses. I've learned a lot.

I'm planning to make a lemon tart to take to a family dinner. Any candidates for the BEST lemon tart? - either published, on the web, or your own special creation.

[Kimmie]

Depends if you prefer the French-style lemon tart or the American style! There was a great French-style recipe in Saveur Magazine. Would you like it?

[alexia]

Thanks Kimmie. I do prefer the French style tart. I checked Saveur and found one in March of 2000. It looks good. Have you tried it?

[Kimmie]

I liked it. That's the recipe I wanted to share with you. I'm glad you have the magazine.

[Dear Abby]

My dear Alexia,

Dear Abby is particularly fond of the lemon tart. Chef Henri prepares a simply exquisite example of the art.

Dear Abby has asked Henri. He asserts that he has been taught by the famous chef, Thomas Keller, personally. Dear Abby may doubt this, but has found a lovely recipe in The French Laundry Cookbook.

She would be delighted to post it, ma chere.

Abby

[alexia]

Dear Abbey, I'd be most grateful to you and Chef Henri for the recipe. If I don't make it today, I'm sure I will try it in the future.

It's so helpful to have recipes that someone else has already sampled! And I enjoy variations on a theme.

[Dear Abby]

My dearest Alexia,

Dear Abby will send you this delightful recipe via private message, as she understands there is some controversy regarding posting copyrighted material. She would like to comment, however, that provided one credits the source, she does not believe there is any problem with such posting.

Abby

[alexia]

My thanks again to both Kimmie and Dear Abby for their suggestions and the Keller recipe from Abby. The Saveur recipe is archived on the new Saveur website (which makes it easier to find than searching through old back issues).

I will briefly describe the Keller recipe Abby so kindly sent. It is a lemon sabyon filling in a pine nut crust accompanied by honeyed mascarpone.

I will make the Saveur filling. It can be mixed in the KA and poured into the crust with the cooking done in the oven. I would like to make an almond crust similar to the one one in the Keller recipe, but am not sure it will work. The Keller crust is blind baked in 20-30 minutes; the Saveur filling is baked in the crust for 40 minutes and I'm afraid it might be too long for the nuts.

I agree with Abby about the foolishness in considering a single recipe posting as a copyright infringement when proper reference is given. In fact, it is a form of advertisement for the author to pass it on as a favorite of someone who has made it already. And I am more likely to buy the book after making something from it that is successful.

[bouland]

The following is a lemon tart recipe I learned from Gerald Hirigoyen's book Bistro published in 1995. I've made it a number of times to rave reviews.

Tarte au Citron

pâte sucrée:
1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)
60 grams powdered sugar
1 egg
315 grams all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon baking powder

filling:
4 lemons
4 eggs, beaten
315 grams sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted

tarte:
1 tablespoon butter, melted (for greasing tarte pan)

syrup:
1/2 cup sugar combined with 1/2 cup water

1. For pâte sucrée: in an electric mixer cream butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg and beat on low speed until creamy. Add flour and baking powder and mix at low speed until dough begins to cling together. Shape into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for two hours to two weeks. (Bring to room temperature before using.)

2. Preheat oven to 400*°F.

3. Carefully slice 3 thin slices from the center of one of the lemons. Remove the zest from all the lemons and finely mince. Juice the lemons. Strain and reserve 1/2 cup of juice for the filling. Combine the lemon juice, eggs, zest, and sugar. Mix well. Add melted butter. Set aside.

4. Brush a 10-inch tart pan with melted butter. Set aside. Roll out the dough large enough to fit the pan. Line the pan with the dough and trim the pastry even with the pan rim. Line the pan with parchment paper and pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes.

5. Remove the pan from the oven and remove the weights and the paper. Pour the lemon juice mixture into the warm tart shell. Bake until the filling is set and the edges are golden — about 20 minutes.

6. While the tart is baking, combine the syrup ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add the reserved lemon slices. Simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.

7. When tart is baked, set on a rack to cool. Drain lemon slices and arrange in an overlapping pattern in the center of the tart. When cool enough to handle, remove tart pan sides.

8. Serve at room temperature.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

[alexia]

Thanks Bouland, it looks super, and arrived while I was making a tart. I like the addition of zest in the filling. I use it in almost everything else, why not a lemon tart? I also like the use of the glazed lemon on top and its syrup in the filling.

I made the Saveur tart yesterday for a small family dinner and served it with whipped cream (straight) to eat up some of the acidity. It was well received, most particularly by the 5 year old who practically breathed it in. She was also impressed to see the whipped cream made before her very eyes! (Only her mother thought it was a bit too tart!) Kimmie was right, the Saveur is a keeper. It's pretty straightforward, about at the difficulty level of a custard with a couple kinks. If you had dough ready in the fridge, it could even be done for a weekday dinner.

My thanks to all three of you. It's lovely to have these different recipes for lemon tart that have been tested out by discerning palates, and I will make them all. I enjoy variations. Like many others on the board, I'm into cookbooks, read recipes instead of eating before bed. But when you're taking a first try out to dinner (how arrogant), it's especially helpful to have one that's been proofed first.

[Kimmie]

I was happy to oblige, Alexia, and thank you for your vote of confidence!

[marmalady]

Dear Abbey - I believe it's okay to post recipes, as long as you 'attribute' them to the author. Recipes are not copywritten.

I just made a lemon tart from Gale Gand's book, 'Butter, Sugar, Flour, Eggs'; used almonds instead of walnuts, and put down a layer of apricot jam/apricot brandy mixed together before I added the tart filling. What a yum! The recipe is great, and easy, and virtually fail-proof, and the crust is a dream. If anyone wants it, holler, and I'll post it.

[nancya]

This reminds me of the summer I was on a quest for the perfect lemon meringue pie. I don't know how many pies I made that summer. Different fillings, different crusts. Isabelle - that was the one good crust I made before your recipe - a butter and cream based shortbread crust on a lemon meringue pie. I inflicted them on relatives, friends and co-workers. Pie after pie after pie. I was unstoppable.


That was 1988. I have never eaten lemon meringue pie again.

[alexia]

Marmalady, as your lemon tart sounds like a quite different version from the other three, could you kindly post it? We have a few more months to try these lemon tarts before good summer fruit comes to most of the country.

[marmalady]

"Gale Gand's Perfected Lemon Tart"
from "Butter, Sugar, Flour, Eggs"

Crust:

10T unsalted butter, slightly softened
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
1 egg
1 5/8 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup finely ground walnuts*

*(I subbed ground almonds, and added 1 tsp. almond extract)

Process the nuts in a food processor with 1/4 cup of the powdered sugar. In a mixer, cream the butter with the paddle attachment til fluffy; add the rest of the confectioners sugar and mix well. Add the egg and mix well. Add the flour and nut/sugar mixture, and mix just til incorporated (I actually did this last stage by hand). Shape dough into a disk, cover with plastic, and chill for 1-2 hours. Roll out for a 10 inch tart pan with a removeable bottom. Chill the dough again in the pan (my step). Preheat oven to 375. Blind bake the crust for 15-20 minutes. Cool, and turn oven temp. down to 325.

Filling:

5 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 scant cup fresh lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
1/2 cup heavy cream
grated zest of 1 1/2 lemons

My addition: 2/3 cup good quality apricot jam melted with 2T apricot brandy; if you want it smooth, strain the jam; I left the chunks of apricot in.

When the jam has cooled, brush the bottom of the cooked crust with the jam. Place the crust on a cookie sheet. Whisk the eggs, then whisk in the sugar til blended. Whisk in the lemon juice, cream and zest; pour carefully into the baked crust (if you pour too fast, the jam will all come up and mix with the filling - guess how i found that out!). bake in center of oven til almost set but still soft in the center, 35-40 minutes. The filling will finish cooking as it cools. Let cool at room temp; remove the sides of the pan, and chill at least 2 hours before cutting.

I made a 'drizzle' for the plate from apricot juice, apricot jam, and apricot brandy, and cut dried apricots into little buds, then brushed them with more jam, for deco on the individual pieces.