Tarte au Citron

[clb]

clb- have you tried toasting the pinenuts before using them? usually toasting offsets the rancidity of nutmeats, and I would think it will release the full flavor of the pinenuts, just like with toasting different nuts and spices.

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I have, but I'd still prefer to use another nut. I don't have any problem finding fresh almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts etc and keeping them that way for the few weeks they survive in this household (I keep them in the fridge).

clb

[Anna N]

You can substitute hazelnuts, but pinenuts have a very distinctive taste so the overall taste profile will be quite different I suspect. Pinenuts seem to be to be moister/oilier than hazelnuts so I don't know if there will need to be an adjustment in proportions.

Don't know if there are Costcos in Canada, but their Kirkland pinenuts are relatively reasonable.

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Yes, we do have Costco and I will certainly check if they carry pinenuts next time I am there. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Anna N]

I agree that the Keller recipe from Bouchon rules! I've tried a few others but this one is my favorite. Do try an splurge on the crust with pinenuts at least once (it's only 1/3 of the crust recipe anyways, so it is not that much). It really makes a big difference.

I would love to try the Payard or Robuchon recipe. Are there any copies online of these two?

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You are correct in that it calls for only 1/3 of the crust recipe, however, that recipe calls for 2 cups of pine nuts! and Keller discourages making a smaller quantity of the pastry. Around here I could probably buy a bottle of Armagnac for the same price as 2 cups of pine nuts. So I am wondering if it would be at all feasible to substitute hazelnuts? I'm no baker so I have no idea if this would work or not but it seems possible. Anyone care to comment?

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I substituted ground almonds and the crust and filling/pastry balance worked fine. I don't like pinenuts; I don't think I've ever bought a packet without at least some rancid nuts in it. The tart was wonderful .

clb

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All right! We love almonds so I will give that a try until I get to check out the cost of pine nuts at Costco. Did you substitute weight for weight (10ozs) of ground almonds for the pine nuts? Many thanks.

[clb]

I agree that the Keller recipe from Bouchon rules! I've tried a few others but this one is my favorite. Do try an splurge on the crust with pinenuts at least once (it's only 1/3 of the crust recipe anyways, so it is not that much). It really makes a big difference.

I would love to try the Payard or Robuchon recipe. Are there any copies online of these two?

←

You are correct in that it calls for only 1/3 of the crust recipe, however, that recipe calls for 2 cups of pine nuts! and Keller discourages making a smaller quantity of the pastry. Around here I could probably buy a bottle of Armagnac for the same price as 2 cups of pine nuts. So I am wondering if it would be at all feasible to substitute hazelnuts? I'm no baker so I have no idea if this would work or not but it seems possible. Anyone care to comment?

←

I substituted ground almonds and the crust and filling/pastry balance worked fine. I don't like pinenuts; I don't think I've ever bought a packet without at least some rancid nuts in it. The tart was wonderful .

clb

←

All right! We love almonds so I will give that a try until I get to check out the cost of pine nuts at Costco. Did you substitute weight for weight (10ozs) of ground almonds for the pine nuts? Many thanks.

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Yes.

clb

[Anna N]

I agree that the Keller recipe from Bouchon rules! I've tried a few others but this one is my favorite. Do try an splurge on the crust with pinenuts at least once (it's only 1/3 of the crust recipe anyways, so it is not that much). It really makes a big difference.

I would love to try the Payard or Robuchon recipe. Are there any copies online of these two?

←

You are correct in that it calls for only 1/3 of the crust recipe, however, that recipe calls for 2 cups of pine nuts! and Keller discourages making a smaller quantity of the pastry. Around here I could probably buy a bottle of Armagnac for the same price as 2 cups of pine nuts. So I am wondering if it would be at all feasible to substitute hazelnuts? I'm no baker so I have no idea if this would work or not but it seems possible. Anyone care to comment?

←

I substituted ground almonds and the crust and filling/pastry balance worked fine. I don't like pinenuts; I don't think I've ever bought a packet without at least some rancid nuts in it. The tart was wonderful .

clb

←

All right! We love almonds so I will give that a try until I get to check out the cost of pine nuts at Costco. Did you substitute weight for weight (10ozs) of ground almonds for the pine nuts? Many thanks.

←

Yes.

clb

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Thank you!

[Swisskaese]

As someone who has made the Thomas Keller tart, I would not substitute the pine nuts for anything but almonds. All other nuts would be too over powering and I wouldn't use as many almonds as it calls for pinenuts. Pinenuts are quite subtle in this recipe.

I decided not to use any nuts in the crust and it still tasted wonderful.

[savvysearch]

I made a citron cream that separated with a pool of butter on top. Don't know what I did wrong.

Here's the recipe I used.

400g sugar

400g eggs

180g lemon juice

530g butter

Whisked the sugar, juice and eggs and heated until boiled and thickened. Then added butter and whisked over boil for about 10 minutes. By the time I strained it, there was a pool of butter on top. What are possible causes of that? Any guesses what happened?

[SylviaLovegren]

Whisked the sugar, juice and eggs and heated until boiled and thickened. Then added butter and whisked over boil for about 10 minutes. By the time I strained it, there was a pool of butter on top. What are possible causes of that? Any guesses what happened?

Sounds like it was too hot.

[LindaK]

My favorite recipe is from Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells. It uses creme fraiche (or heavy cream) instead of butter in the filling, And best of all you don't have to pre-cook it. Just pour the mixture into a partially-baked tart shell and bake. Foolproof and absolutely delicious.

[ChrisTaylor]

On the recommmendation of a whole bunch of people in this thread, I used Keller's Laundry recipe as a starting point. Some modifications, tho':

-- the base was all flour as pine nuts are v. expensive here too (as is almond meal, for that matter)

-- I decreased, somewhat, the amount of sugar and increased the amount of juice

-- used a stupid amount of zest

The result: a very tart tart. Which is exactly what I wanted.

[lstrelau]

Be careful if using the cheap Chinese pine nuts in case they are the variety that temporarily screws up your ability to taste properly. You can find info on the web to describe how to identify the different types.

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[Joel Hicks]

I use Rick Steins recipe from his book "Food Heroes another Helping"

Ive made it many times and it has never failed me. Here is one from last week.

[foxtrotzulu]

I need to make a dessert 48 hours ahead and thought a tarte au citron might be a good choice. Will it survive OK for that long? Am I right that it’s best not to refrigerate it as the pastry will go soggy.

would a lemon cheesecake be better? 

 

I don’t really have the option of doing any last minute cooking as facilities and time will be non-existent. 

[AAQuesada]

Should be fine, but I would refrigerate personally

[Margaret Pilgrim]

If you have 5 minutes on the day of your event, you can bake the crust and make the filling (using Pierre Herme's recipe) the day before, then fill your shell on the day you need it, and away you go.    Hermé's filling is IMHO orders of magnitude better than other citron fillings or curds.    FWIW, it was one of two and the preferred recipe suggested by the second poster in this thread.

 

 

 

 

[AlaMoi]

48 hours is not a problem in my experience.

this took two of us more than 48 hours to consume . . .

Edited October 30, 2022 by AlaMoi (log)