Lemon Tart

Last winter I posted about my Meyer lemon tree and its beautiful fragrant flowers. Much to my surprise after spending the summer in the garden the tree produced a rather bountiful harvest this fall. So finding myself with about a two dozen unexpected lemons, I decided to use some of them to make a tangy tart. I really love this recipe because it strikes just the right balance of sweet and tart. I think thats the ideal for a Lemon Tart. Yum!

Lemon Tart

1 Pate sucree 

Filling

Zest of 3 lemons finely grated

⅔ cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 3-4 lemons)

1 cup powered sugar

⅔ cup creme fraiche or sour cream

3 eggs

3 egg yolks

Powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 400. Line the tart pan with the pate sucree letting the crust extend over the top of the tart pan. Line with parchment paper and dried beans and blind bake for 10-15 minutes. Let cool.

Reduce the oven to 375.

Beat the lemon juice, zest and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Add progressively the creme fraiche until all is smoothly mixed, then add the eggs and the yolks one at a time.

Pour mixture into crust and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. The filling should be slightly golden. If it browns too much cover with aluminum foil. 

Let the tart cool then refrigerate. Right before serving dust with sugar. If you do it ahead of time the sugar will dissolve on the tart. I know it happened to me.  

Tip: Let the lemons set out 30 minutes to overnight before squeezing. You’ll get more juice out of them.