Lemon Tart

[ambra]

I'm looking for a quick lemon tart recipe....one that is like Lemon squares and I came across this but it seems worrying to throw the white part of the lemon into the pie as I was taught that it's too bitter for cooking. Has anyone ever tried this method? Or doesn anyone have a better recipe? I was looking for a tart as its a dessert I need to take to a lunch and I just thought it presented better. I've usually had good results from this woman's blog.

Edited November 5, 2011 by ambra (log)

[janeer]

It's fine. In fact, the classic Shaker lemon pie, which is almost nothing BUT whole sliced lemons, is delicious--tart but not bitter. Here is a recipe.

[djyee100]

When I baked a Shaker lemon pie, the pith tasted pretty bitter to me. With all due respect, some people love Shaker lemon pie, and others just hate it. It's the bitterness from the pith. Some people are more sensitive about it than others.

The last lemon tart I baked came from Lori Longbotham's Luscious Lemon Desserts, and I can recommend it. It's available on Googlebooks, page 51. A picture of the tart is on the cover of the book. The tart presents better with a little confectioners' sugar sifted onto it.

On Googlebooks, page 51:

http://books.google.com/books?id=ZymiZw6hW5AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=longbotham+luscious+lemon+desserts&hl=en&ei=k8O1Tu61DKjniAL52Ph1&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=lemon%20tart&f=false

While surfing around I came across this recipe for lemon tart on David Lebovitz's website. It's basically lemon curd in a tart shell. Although I haven't tried it, I've found DL's recipes to be reliable. Here:

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2009/05/tart-au-citron-french-lemon-tart/

good luck!

[LovesGenoise]

If you have recipes you like for pate sucree (or almond pate sucree) and lemon curd, you can make a tart with those components. Top with meringue, whipped cream, raspberries, or blueberries. Brushing the pre-baked shell with a little melted white chocolate will help keep the crust crisp if you want to make a day ahead.

[annabelle]

I like Shaker lemon pie, but it is bitter or awfully tart with a bitter aftertaste. I've made lots of tarts with lemon curd and I find them to be much too sweet for my tastes.

Ambra, have you tried just turning a lemon square recipe into a tart? I would think it would be easy to pat out the shell in a tart pan and go from there.

[Emily_R]

I'm with Annabelle. I have made the smitten kitchen tart recipe, and found it too bitter to eat. We literally had to throw it out, and I'm not someone who needs my lemon tarts super sweet. Its just that independent of how sweet it is, that bitterness was too much for me.

[runwestierun]

What Emily_R said. I made the smitten kitchen tart and for me it was too bitter. All the neighbors who come over for coffee voted it off the island too. It was pretty, though. But very pith-tasting. I don't even think that gobs of sugar would have saved it.

Edit: No, it's not "smitten kitten".

Edited November 7, 2011 by runwestierun (log)

[ambra]

thanks everyone. I landed up not trying it, thanks to the recipes here. I don't like bitter things.

And in fact, I did try to turn a lemon square recipe into a tart because I wasn't exactly looking for a curd recipe. (which probably would have been better, so I'm not really sure what my problem was.)

It was disgusting. Surely, my fault, but the problem with the internet, is that there are too many options.

Does anyone have a tried and true lemon square recipe for next time?

[Mjx]

The lemon bar recipe from CI is extremely good, and very balanced (I admit to tweaking it slightly, since I like lemon-flavoured things to be distinctly sour).

[JAZ]

I like this recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum. The only change I make is to add the lemon zest with the lemon juice and then strain it out, because I don't like the texture when it's stirred in at the end.

[Mjx]

I like this recipe from Rose Levy Beranbaum. The only change I make is to add the lemon zest with the lemon juice and then strain it out, because I don't like the texture when it's stirred in at the end.

How assertive is the butter in that? A distinctive butter note always seems weird to me, in something lemony of this sort.

[ambra]

See now, I was thinking a bit of butter might have made my recipe better yesterday. the one I made was gummy. It was really off texturely. I thought that butter might have softened it up.

(I am no baking expert, I could be totally wrong here.

I used Ina Garten's recipe which I totally regret. I might have overcooked it and it's simple as that, but I left it in the oven for at least 5 minutes shorter than the recipe called for.

Thanks for the heads up on both recipes though.

[LovesGenoise]

I also make a lemon square based on RLB's ultimate lemon butter bar. Personally, I love the combination of lemon and butter. The only changes I make to her recipe are designed to make them a bit more bullet-proof and long-lasting: I coat the shortbread base with a thin layer of good white chocolate to keep it from turning soggy, and I add a little water and agar-agar to the topping so that the curd will set and cut perfectly regardless of how much yolk or sugar is in the recipe. The egg and sugar then become purely flavoring, and I tweak them to suit my taste.

[annabelle]

You may have overcooked your curd mixture. I've turned my back on curd and had it scramble on me before. I don't like too much butter in the lemon mixture, either. The tart shell is so rich I don't think it needs much more butter.

[djyee100]

I always bake Alice Medrich's recipe for lemon bars. They're very lemon-y.

An adapted recipe on this blog, the bars made into a tart:

http://blueridgebaker.blogspot.com/2010/01/very-tangy-lemon-bars.html

A variation on the lemon bars, which I like as much as the classic lemon bars. I suggest puree-ing the apricot jam so that the filling is smooth.

Apricot Lemon Hazelnut Bars:

http://dessertfirstgirl.com/2011/06/apricot-lemon-hazelnut-bars.html#more-904