The Best Lemon Tart Ever Recipes

LEMON TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• For the shells, combine the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle cold water evenly over the surface. Stir with a fork until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Shape the dough into a ball and chill.
• When chilled, roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 3 1/4 inch rounds. Fit each pastry round into 3 inch tart pans. Prick with a fork.
• Bake in a preheated oven for 10-12 minutes. Let cool.
• Place the butter in the top of a double boiler. Bring the water in the double boiler to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, and cook until the butter melts. Combine the sugar and cornstarch, stirring well. Add to the butter and stir until smooth. Stir in the eggs and cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Add the lemon juice. Cook 3-4 minutes longer or until the mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Cool. Spoon a rounded tablespoon of lemon filling into each cooled tart shell.
• Before serving, top each tart with a dollop of whipped cream, if desired. Makes 22 tarts.

THE BEST LEMON TART EVER

Steps:

• Combine butter, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer; mix ingredients thoroughly with a paddle attachment. Mix flour into butter mixture to make a smooth dough. Press dough into a 9-inch tart pan; refrigerate crust for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake crust until light golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Whisk sugar, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and 1/2 cup flour in a bowl until smooth. Pour lemon filling into crust. Cover edges of crust with strips of aluminum foil to prevent burning.
• Bake tart until filling is set, about 20 minutes. Cool completely and dust with confectioners' sugar.

THE BEST LEMON BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9x13 inch pan.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
• Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. For a festive tray, make another pan using limes instead of lemons and adding a drop of green food coloring to give a very pale green. After both pans have cooled, cut into uniform 2 inch squares and arrange in a checker board fashion.

LEMON TART

Steps:

• For pastry, process flour, butter, icing sugar and lemon rind in a food processor until coarse crumbs form.
• Add egg and ½ tbsp water and pulse until pastry dough forms a ball.
• Form pastry into a disc of about 14cm diameter, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 175C. Roll pastry out on a lightly floured bench to a round 4mm thick and 35cm wide.
• Lightly prick pastry with a fork.
• Trim the pastry to a 35cm round and place in a 24cm-diameter, 3cm-deep fluted tart tin with a removable base, leaving pastry hanging over edges. Press pastry scraps into a ball and use this to press pastry case into the edges of the tin. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Line pastry case with foil, fill with chickpeas or ceramic pie weights and blind-bake until pastry is cooked through (35 minutes). Remove chickpeas and foil, reduce oven to 150C and bake until pastry is golden brown and crisp (10-15 minutes).
• Patch any holes or cracks using small thin pieces of pastry. Lightly whisk eggwhite and brush sparingly over inside of tart case. Return to oven for 2 minutes, then set aside to cool.
• Leave oven at 150C. Whisk eggs and yolk lightly to break up. Add sugar and stir with a whisk until sugar starts to dissolve and mixture is glossy and syrup-like (4-5 minutes). Set aside, stirring occasionally, until sugar is completely dissolved (about 35 minutes). Whisk crème fraîche in a large bowl with a little of the egg mixture to just loosen. Add lemon juice to egg mixture, then add crème fraîche a little at a time. Set aside while pastry cools.
• When pastry is cooled, skim foam off the top of lemon mixture, then strain into a jug. Half-fill the tart case with lemon mixture, then place tart on an oven shelf, ensuring it's level. Fill to the rim with remaining filling (you may have a little left over). Bake until the tart is set but with a little wobble in the centre (about 30 minutes).
• Remove from oven, cool for 5 minutes, then trim overhanging crust.
• Cool tart in tin for 2 hours, then carefully remove from tin. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

LEMON TART

Steps:

• For the crust:
• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter and flour a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and refrigerate it while the oven preheats.
• Remove the tart pan from the refrigerator. Use your fingertips to press the chilled pine nut dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Trim off any excess dough.
• Bake the crust for 10 to 15 minutes, then rotate it and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is golden brown. Remove the crust from the oven and let it cool while you make the filling. (There may be some cracks in the crust; they will not affect the finished tart.)
• For the sabayon:
• Bring about 1 1/2 inches of water to a boil in a pot that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the bowl you will be using for the sabayon. Meanwhile, in a large metal bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks, and sugar for about 1 minute, or until the mixture is smooth.
• Set the bowl over the pot and, using a large whisk, whip the mixture while you turn the bowl (for even heating). After about 2 minutes, when the eggs are foamy and have thickened, add one-third of the lemon juice. Continue to whisk vigorously and, when the mixture thickens again, add another one-third of the lemon juice. Whisk until the mixture thickens again, then add the remaining lemon juice. Continue whisking vigorously, still turning the bowl, until the mixture is thickened and light in color and the whisk leaves a trail in the bottom of the bowl. The total cooking time should be 8 to 10 minutes.
• Turn off the heat and leave the bowl over the water. Whisk in the butter a piece at a time. The sabayon may loosen slightly, but it will thicken and set as it cools. Pour the warm sabayon into the tart crust and place the pan on a baking sheet.
• Preheat the broiler. While the sabayon is still warm, place the tart under the broiler. Leaving the door open, brown the top of the sabayon, rotating the tart if necessary for even color; this will take only a few seconds, so do not leave the oven. Remove the tart from the broiler and let it sit for at least 1 hour before serving. Serve at room temperature or cold.

THE ULTIMATE LEMON TART

Steps:

• To make the pastry, combine the butter, icing sugar, flour and lemon zest in the bowl of a food processor.
• Pulse until the mixture resembles rough bread crumbs.
• Add the egg yolks and with the blender running, pour in the water, spoon by spoon until the mixture comes together in a ball.
• Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and shape into 2 discs. Wrap in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 15 minutes.
• Pre-heat the oven to 180°c. Roll the chilled pastry out on a floured surface and press into 2x 28cm tart cases.
• Blind bake the pastry for 10 minutes then remove the baking paper and baking beans and return the pastry back to the oven for another 10 minutes to finish baking.
• Remove and set aside while you make the filling. Turn the oven down to 100°c.
• For the filling, heat the cream and sugar in a saucepan until small bubbles appear around the edge of the pan, do not allow to boil.
• In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs.
• When the cream is hot, slowly pour into the eggs, whilst continuously whisking.
• Pour in the lemon juice and lemon zest and mix well.
• Strain the mixture into a jug and carefully pour into the baked tart cases.
• Bake the tart for 50 minutes until the edges are set and the centre is still slightly jiggly.
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge to cool completely.
• When you are ready to serve, slice the tart and serve with a dusting of icing sugar.

THE BEST EVER LEMON TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 190°C, Gas Mark 5.
• Melt the butter gently and mix together with the flour, icing sugar and water. Press the soft dough into the base and up the sides of a fluted flan ring.
• Pierce the base several times and bake blind on a baking tray in the oven for 20 minutes until golden.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C, Gas Mark 2.
• Grate the rind of the lemon and then juice. Place caster sugar, eggs, cream, in a bowl with the lemon rind and juice. Whisk together until blended, then carefully pour into the cooked pastry case.
• Return to the oven and cook for a further 35-40 minutes until set.
• Enjoy!