twd: tartest lemon tart
Tuesdays with Dorie #6: Babette of Babette Feasts picked the Tartest Lemon Tart on page 336.
I want to start off saying that I loved the rich lemony-ness of this tart. It had a depth of flavor that went beyond your average lemon tart, which I’m sure is from the use of whole lemons. It was sweet and refreshing all at the same time. I am definitely going to make this again soon.
That said, the tart and I – we had issues at first. We resolved them, but the relationship didn’t start out smoothly.
I started off making the crust that was called for in the recipe – the basic sweet tart crust. This crust is pretty much the same as the chocolate crust used in the chocolate tart, w/out the cocoa powder, so I’m not sure what went wrong – but my first go ’round with it was a disaster. It was very crumbly coming out of the processor, but I pressed it into the tart pan and baked it anyway. It practically filled the whole pan, which concerned me, since Dorie says in her recipe that the shell will be “very full” with the lemon filling.
When the pastry came out of the oven, it was still very crumbly and still took up a great deal of space in the pan. I was skeptical already, but the kicker was when I jiggled the shell in the tart pan just to separate it from the sides, it broke into large chunks. I probably could have still used it, but I decided to pass. (Confession: It was too tasty to waste and I wound up eating it like shortbread cookies with coffee in the mornings!)
So moving on, I tried a different crust. I figured it was a perfect opportunity to make the unique tart crust that I saw mentioned on David Leibovitz’s blog last week: French Tart Dough. It calls for boiling the wet ingredients (including the butter) in the oven first. It actually made a lovely thin, buttery crust, which I wound up using. But I’d still like to make this with the thicker, more shortbread-y crust.
Ok, so moving on, the filling was amazingly simple to make. I scrubbed the lemons well, since I knew I’d be using all of them, cut them in quarters, and seeded them. There wasn’t a lot of pith, so I didn’t feel the need to par-boil them or try to cut any of it out.
I used my Cuisinart mini-prep and it was just big enough for the filling. I ground up the lemons first, added the sugar and pulsed it some more, then added the rest of the ingredients. (Sidenote: I think the melted butter is unnecessary in this recipe. I think it made the finished product just a little oily feeling. When I make this again, I think I’ll leave out the melted butter.)
As Dorie said in the recipe, the filling definitely FILLS the tart shell.
She also warned that the tart might bake over in the oven, which it did – and then some. Next time I think I’ll use my deeper tart pan, even if it will make a less even looking crust. I hated to see the waste of the filling like that. (2nd confession: It wasn’t exactly wasted – I scooped it into a bowl and dipped the broken pieces of the first tart into it. It went great with my coffee on Sunday morning!)
However, once it cooled, and I cleaned it up and lifted the tart out of the pan, it looked and tasted great.
So recap: I loved it. I honestly think this might be my favorite recipe so far – even though there was no chocolate involved. It’s the perfect summer dessert – tangy and bright and summery and just delicious!
I want to make it again with the sweeter tart pastry, but in a deeper pan. And I want to try it with different kinds of citrus as well, including possibly some of the grapefruit that I know H will bring back from his parents’ place in Phoenix in a couple of weeks.
The recipe is available in Baking: From My Home to Yours
Enjoy!
Wow, we’d be scared if ours bubbled over! The finished one looks amazing!
Lovely tart! Like Steph, I add some liquid to Dorie’s tart dough — about a tablespoon of heavy cream, mixed with the egg. And also, it helps to process long enough that the dough begins to come together in clumps.
Kara, I would love to try that crust too. I read about it on Spork and Foon. Anyway, I don’t know if you have read Smitten Kitchens adaptation but she doesn’t use the cream so maybe that would also help you out on the volume issue. I save blog recipes in my google docs. so I’ve included a link if you would like to look. It looks so delicious and I hope you get to make it again soon.
AmyRuth
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcbfqk7x_39xqrbhtc9&hl=en
Your tart and pictures are all gorgeous!
The relationship may have started out rocky but it looks like a resounding success at the end! Looks beautiful. This is one of my favorites now too.
I love both of your confessions – that would be me! In fact my mango bread overflowed my pans (chose diff pan sizes and too lazy to grease another, although clearly necessary…) and I was pulling scraps off the cookie sheet straight from the oven. Yup, and it was nowhere near as fab as this lemon tart. Thanks for previewing Lebovitz’s crust; I’ll have to try it when I want buttery but not shortbready. Beautiful tart!
The second tart dough looks amazing; mine did work out okay, but I find it a very crumbly dough to work with. I’m glad you and the tart resolved your issues in the end, it turned out beautiful and it’s always great when you find a new great dessert.
Way to persevere and make it work. Definitely YUMMY!
I definitely missed a good one! I’m fascinated by the alternate crust recipe…and I love that top picture (oh, and the bottom picture…)
Mine was verging on overflowing too, but it just stayed inside. Didn’t help that I did mini tarts in the first place. Anyway, yours looked beautiful in the end!
Mine boiled over a bit, and then I couldnt get it out of my tart pan
Glad you enjoyed this…kudos for working on this twice. My tart dough looked REALLY rustic as well….I didnt worry about it though since I knew something would go over it. Great pictures!
Your tart looks gorgeous – I like the sound of the boiled pastry, as is something I have never tried before.
Your tart looks delicious! Looking at the last shot, I can’t even tell that the filling went over the sides. I love your photos too!
Great post and a beautiful tart!!! Loved the lemon flavor and the crust was to die for.
I’m so glad that you liked this one — I liked it a lot, too. My tart looked exactly like yours when it came out of the oven and I had a lot of filling left over as well. I kept thinking that I shouldn’t put so much filling in the crust but I wanted to use as much as possible.
What fantastic pictures you have of the tart!! Fabulous job! I can’t wait to give the tart a try tonight.
I loved this tart, too. I’m glad you tried that oil crust from David’s blog – I was curious about it, and it’s good to see that it worked for you.
It’s so funny how a baking project, when it’s underway, can look like a disaster. But then you clean it up a bit, sprinkle it with powdered sugar, and it’s gorgeous. Great job on this!
OMW your tart looks gorgeous..well, not the running over part…LOL…but the photos of the tart are really pretty. I loved it, too, and it was LEMONY!
Mmm, beautiful! Sorry you had a few issues – but it still looks amazing, and I bet it tasted even better!
It looks fabulous, I love your pictures! This was also one of my favorite TWD’s so far, I can’t wait to try it with grapefruit.
LOL! A delightful photo essay. I guess I’m lucky to only have a 9″ pan and so avoid the boil over. Glad you enjoyed!
glad you got it to work! looks great! i’ve also had trouble getting dorie’s sweet tart dough and chocolate dough to come together when mixing. i’ve had to add a little milk (maybe a tablespoon or two) to the mix each time i’ve made those doughs, and that seems to work.
Mine bubbled over like a volcano, but it turned out fine after some doctoring
A little bitter, but I don’t think my lemons were of the best quality. DELICIOUS dough!
Ah, I love a woman who doesn’t let the “ruins” go to waste…If you read my experience, I ended up making two, count ‘em, two tarts…I think you hit on the key with the lemons/pith–thin-skinned lemons: pith okay to use…thick, puffy-skinned lemons probably should be trimmed a bit.
Glad you liked it…love the photos. As usual.