Meyer Lemon Tart

How often have I made lemon meringue pie? Probably five or six, which is kinda a lot for me. I'm not usually someone who repeats making the same desserts since I have so many that I want to try all the time. Now, meyer lemons are something I've yet to use at all since they just never seem to have them anywhere near me. Costco certainly picked up on this since my brother found a giant plastic box of them and gave me half. They literally were so fragrant that I could smell them in the house without having even cut one open. To highlight their flavor I wanted to use them in something simple, where there were no other flavors to mask their fruity tartness.

I took this entire recipe from BraveTart's site, since I like the fact that her tart crust uses room temperature butter and her lemon curd is plain and simple: egg yolks, sugar, and lemon. I tried to be all sophisticated (haha) and weight out the ingredients like her, but let's face it...I'm just a home cook with a crappy mechanical kitchen scale. The weigh-out method was a little unpredictable for me. Everything still came out alright, and better than most tarts I've made (the crust is so buttery and sweet), but next time I'll either be getting an electric kitchen scale or using a different recipe.

 

Meyer Lemon Tart

For the tart dough:
2 ounces sugar
4 ounces salted butter, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp meyer lemon zest
6 ounces flour
powdered sugar for rolling

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the sugar, butter, vanilla, and zest for just a few seconds to combine. Add in flour at the lowest speed and shut off the mixer when the flour has just incorporated. The dough will appear quite mealy. Knead lightly by hand against the sides of the bowl until smooth. You’re done.

Flatten dough into a disc, wrap with plastic, and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 10" tart pan with non-stick spray. Dust your work surface with powdered sugar and roll the dough to 1/4” thickness. Gently press the dough into the tart pan and up the sides. Prick lightly all over with a fork and bake until very lightly browned, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool completely before filling with lemon curd.

For the meyer lemon curd:
8 ounces meyer lemon juice (from about 6 meyer lemons)
8 ounces egg yolks (from about 7-10 eggs)
8 ounces sugar
1 1/2 tbl meyer lemon zest
a hearty pinch of salt

In a medium pot bring the juice to a simmer.

Meanwhile, whisk together the yolks and sugar in a bowl. When the lemon juice is hot, temper it slowly into the yolks. Transfer the yolk/sugar/juice mixture back to the pot and cook on medium low heat, stirring constantly with a heat resistant spatula, until the mixture thickens considerably.

Strain this mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer, discarding any bits that remain, and add in the zest and salt. Use a paddle attachment to stir the mixture continuously until it has cooled.

Pour the lemon curd into the cooled tart shell and refrigerate for about 2 hours before serving.

Source: Recipes adapted from Brave Tart.