The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart?

Back in 2008 when I first got my copy of Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan (aka: my idol), I took a pile of little sticky notes and went through the whole book marking the recipes I couldn’t wait to try. And of course, Dorie’s Lemon Cream Tart, the one she deems, “The Most Extraordinary Lemon Tart” was among the pages stuck with bright pink sticky notes. Well, here it is 2010 and I’m just now getting around to making this. Shame on me! I guess the reason it took so long is because the recipe calls for 2 1/2 sticks of butter…YIKES! For just hubby and me, that’s waaaaay too much butter! So, this Mother’s Day, I got my chance! We were having my family over for our annual Mother’s Day Brunch (but this year, we just did lunch) and my mom loves lemon desserts, so I decided this was the perfect opportunity to try the recipe out.

Unfortunately, the lemon cream took well over 45 minutes to make…you’re supposed to cook it (stirring constantly, mind you) until it thickens and reaches 180 degrees. I stirred and I stirred, then I stirred some more….then some more. At this point I was thinking one of those ridiculous Robo-stirrers would be ideal, then finally just decided to take it off the heat whether it was ready or not. Turned out fine in the end, but BOY, what a pain!  The end result is a thick, creamy, extremely buttery lemon cream that tastes amazing on top of my favorite tart crust. I was really glad I made it, because everyone really liked it, but honestly, I’m not sure this one will be on the list for “go-to, no-fail” recipes. But for a special occasion like Mother’s Day, and a special mom like mine, it was perfect. Anything for Mommy!

Dorie Greenspan’s Lemon Tart

1 9-inch tart shell, fully baked and cooled (recipe below)

1 cup sugar

finely grated zest of 3 lemons

4 large eggs

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 4 to 5 lemons)

2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into tablespoon-sized pieces

Getting Ready: Have an instant-read thermometer, a strainer and a blender (first choice) or food processor at hand. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

Put the sugar and zest in a large heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water. Off the heat, rub the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. Whisk in the eggs, followed by the lemon juice.

Set the bowl over the pan, and start stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. Cook the lemon cream until it reaches 180 degrees F. As you whisk?you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling?you’ll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as it gets closer to 180 degrees F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Heads up at this point?the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don’t stop whisking or checking the temperature, and have patience?depending on how much heat you’re giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes.

As soon as it reaches 180 degrees F, remove the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of the blender (or food processor); discard the zest. Let the cream stand, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.

Turn the blender to high (or turn on the processor) and, with the machine going, add the butter about 5 pieces at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed as you incorporate the butter. Once the butter is in, keep the machine going?to get the perfect light, airy texture of lemon-cream dreams, you must continue to blend the cream for another 3 minutes. If your machine protests and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats.

Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. (The cream will keep in the fridge for 4 days and, or tightly sealed, in the freezer for up to 2 months; thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.)

When you are ready to assemble the tart, just whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the tart shell. Serve the tart, or refrigerate ‘until needed.

Sweet Tart Dough

-Dorie Greenspan

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick plus 1 tablespoon (9 tablespoons)

very cold (or frozen) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 large egg yolk

Put the flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a couple of times to combine. Scatter the pieces of butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in?you should have some pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and some the size of peas. Stir the yolk, just to break it up, and add it a little at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is in, process in long pulses?about 10 seconds each?until the dough, which will look granular soon after the egg is added, forms clumps and curds. Just before you reach this stage, the sound of the machine working the dough will change?heads up. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that might have escaped mixing.

To press the dough into the pan: Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan, using all but one little piece of dough, which you should save in the refrigerator to patch any cracks after the crust is baked. Don’t be too heavy-handed?press the crust in so that the edges of the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer, before baking.

To bake the crust: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Butter the shiny side of a piece of aluminum foil and fit the foil, buttered side down, tightly against the crust. (Since you froze the crust, you can bake it without weights.) Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake the crust for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust has puffed, press it down gently with the back of a spoon. For a partially baked crust, patch the crust if necessary, then transfer the crust to a cooling rack (keep it in its pan).

To fully bake the crust: Bake for another 8 minutes or so, or until it is firm and golden brown. (I dislike lightly baked crusts, so I often keep the crust in the oven just a little longer. If you do that, just make sure to keep a close eye on the crust’s progress?it can go from golden to way too dark in a flash.) Transfer the tart pan to a rack and cool the crust to room temperature before filling.