Another Tart...Lemon!

My auntie is visiting from Melbourne, and I told her I loved to bake. She asked me to bake something for her, specifically a lemon tart. So we spent some time looking for a recipe and found this one in Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion. There were a few difficulties, mainly with the pastry, and a small issue with putting in the filling. Anyway, this is the Lemon Tart recipe.

Ingredients:

Pastry- (you can buy some, or make your own like I did)

- 180g of unsalted butter

- 240g of plain flour (I didn't put enough in at first)

- a pinch of salt

- 3 tablespoons of water

- 24cm loose-based deep flan tin

Filling

- 3 large lemons

- 6 eggs

- 250g of caster sugar

- 200ml of cream

- icing sugar (to dust)

How To Make It:

Pastry

1. Remove butter from fridge at least 30 minutes before making the pastry

2. Sieve flour and salt onto a marble pastry slab or workbench (I was a bit unsure about this, but I used my kitchen bench, just cleaned it really well)

3. Chop butter into quite small pieces and, a few pieces at a time, toss through the flour

4. Lightly rub the butter pieces between your fingers, and keep tossing the flour through them

5. Bring all the mixture together, and make a well

6. Add the water into the well, and, using a pastry scraper, or a hard spatula, continually fold mixture to a rough heap

7. Using the heel of your hand, quickly push the mixture away across the bench from you (don't overwork it, but make sure it is combined)

8. Gather together in a small ball or a roll and cover in glad-wrap

9. Put in the fridge for 20 - 30 minutes to firm up a bit

10. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200˚C

11. Take pastry out, and dust your bench top, rolling pin and hands with flour

12. Roll out the pastry until it is about 5mm thick

13. Gently lay the pastry onto the tin, and lift up the sides so that they fold into the corners.

14. Cut off the edges, but leave about a centimetre of lee-way so that the pastry has room to shrink

15. Before putting the pastry into the oven, cover with baking paper, and use pie weights (or, in my case, I just covered it in rice) to weigh down the pastry

16. Put into the oven for about 20 minutes

Filling

17. Meanwhile, zest and juice lemons in a small bowl

18. In another, large, bowl mix together the eggs and sugar until well combined

19. Add the zest and juice and stir well

20. Add the cream and whisk well (make sure you use an actual whisk!)

21. Open the oven, and check the tart (don't take it out, make sure the middle is cooked as well),but leave the tart on the shelf to cool a little

22. Pull out the shelf, and ladle the mixture into the tart.

23. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until almost set.

24. Take out of oven, and cool in tin for at least 30 minutes before serving

25. Dust with icing sugar, and serve with thick cream

Very lemony, but very nice!