Lemon Tart or Tarte au Citron
I enjoy cooking and recently have started to redo my cookbook of thirty-five years because the binding split and the pages were falling out.
Baking is further down the list of things I like to do. Don't get me wrong, I want to bake, but baking is more like rocket science. On the other hand, cooking is more my speed… seat of the pant style… like race car driving in the desert. I have always wanted to be a race car driver spinning in the sand with a direction off in the horizon, racing with the aim as it comes.
Nevertheless, one of my favorite things to do is to read cookbooks. Though I rarely follow a recipe. Reading cookbooks is a pleasure; there is always a happy ending. Cookbooks inspire me to set off in my own direction. The mingling of spices and the concoctions of grains tingle my taste buds, an inspiration that, in a sense, rattles my bones, charging me to jump up and create. It is best if I do not read cookbooks before going to bed… though on occasion, I do.
Sweet dreams follow.
I have been craving lemon tarts. My mother tells a story of when she was first married, and my father asked for a lemon pie. When my father saw that she used packaged pudding, he said (one of the worse things a husband can say to his wife,) "My mother never used packaged pudding; she made everything from scratch."
My mother called her mother-in-law for the lemon pie recipe–
Only to hear the key ingredient was in the form of packaged pudding.
My father never heard the end of it and ate his words with packaged pudding ever after.
My son Sacha is accurate with details; years ago, I roped him into cutting the lemon rind into paper-thin zest strips. All the while, he was inventing lemon zest tools in his head. I didn't want to spoil his fun and tell him I had two… One in the drawer and one in front of my eyes. The zest-er (is there such a word?) in the kitchen drawer could never replace watching Sacha's artwork.
At one point, Sacha said, "Look, Mom, the USA with an extra large Florida. The two other specks are Hawaii and Alaska."
Extra large Florida-made lovely, long lemon zest strips.
All this is to say, packaged lemon pudding is not something you can find in the French grocery store (Or at least not in my little village,) and I was craving a lemon tart. ( The French grocery store might not have packaged lemon pudding, but a two-minute walk from my front door, there is a pastry shop, and lemon tarts are ready-made.
Call me crazy. The crazy girl wanted to make her own and satisfy her lemon craving. She wanted them to be extra tart in taste and from scratch.
After reading a few recipes for lemon tarts: I closed the books, grabbed a bowl, shunned the cornstarch and milk ingredient, and roped Sacha into zesting the lemons.
In a saucepan, melt three tablespoons of butter, four heaping tablespoons of sugar, and three tablespoons of finely chopped lemon zest. Melt slowly over low heat, often stirring, until creamy and pulling away from the sides of the pan.
Set the mixture aside to cool off. While it is cooling, whip until frothy two egg whites.
Add two egg yolks to the cooled-off butter-sugar mixture, and stir until smooth and creamy. Then add the juice of two lemons (A cup's worth at least.) and often stir over low heat. Add the egg whites, and keep stirring over low heat. Do not boil.
At the last minute, I added a few tablespoons of cream. Eventually, the lemon mixture thickens and seems to double in size. Turn off the heat.
I used puff pastry dough because the French grocery stores have the best selection of ready-made pie doughs… and they are flaky perfection without the stress.
Cut the puff pastry into small rounds; I used a juice glass. Then, I put parchment paper in a cupcake pan and pressed the round puff pastry dough into place. Next, I added a heaping tablespoon of lemon mixture to each round. (Makes 12 Lemon Tarts.)
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for five minutes.
Note: Maybe cupcake papers would work just the same. But I did not, and my grocery store certainly does not have cupcake papers. It is amazing what one can do when one has a craving… Hence, parchment papers in a cupcake pan worked for my lemon tarts.
Small tart tins are ideal. I have them… but that is another story.
Add lovely-long-Florida-strips of lemon zest and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Note: If you leave the lovely-long-Florida-strips of lemon zest out to dry, they curl stylishly and render a perfect texture. (Unfortunately, I forgot to photograph the tarts with dried lemon zest curls!)
What do you have a craving for? Maybe I can make it?
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