Lemon Tart/Tartelette au Citron

I have been encouraged by a lot of people to start yet another baking blog. I know that there are already a million out there. So why create another one? Baking, in my opinion, is about sharing, it is about inviting others to a special treat. It may sound a bit pathetic, but I bake to bring joy to others. If somebody comes to me after having eaten something I baked and asks for the recipe, I feel happy and grateful. Sharing recipes is what this blog is all about. Yes, there are a million baking blogs out there, I know. I simply want to share some of the recipes I have enjoyed and I know others might enjoy as much. As there are so many good recipes out there already, I usually don’t create my own, but modify the existing ones to my liking. I always rewrite the recipes in my own words and I always link back to the original (you will find the link on top of the recipe). The pictures on this blog are all taken by me if not indicated otherwise and I have full copyright. I bake at home, I don’t have a KitchenAid (yet) and usually I don’t require fancy utensils.

For my first recipe I chose a lemon tartelette. I chose this recipe, because I am in need of some color. Winter has been dragging on and I would like to sprinkle my surroundings with some fresh yellow. If you have ever been to France and tried a real tartelette au citron, you never want to go back. So tangy, so good! I especially like the little almond flour of the pastry dough, which complements the strong lemon flavor.

I am sending you a lot of sun with this post and hope you enjoy it as much as I do (in fact, my husband is probably even more excited about it). Keep in mind: this recipe is really sour/tangy! You may want to increase the sugar amount to 200 grams, but let me warn you, it is still nothing compared to an American Lemon Meringue Pie, French people like it different!

Credit: Ôdélices (in French)

Print Recipe

Lemon Tart/Tartelette au Citron

Serves: One tart from of about ∅ 26cm or 4 tartelette dishes of ∅ 16cm

Prep Time: 30min – Cooking Time: 20min – Total Time: 50min

This lemon tart is made with a pre-baked pie crust and filled with a lot of tart lemon juice.

Ingredients

• Pastry Dough
• 170 grams of all-purpose flour
• 35 grams of ground almonds
• 35 grams of icing sugar
• 100 grams of unsalted butter
• 1 egg yolk
• Optional: 1-3 teaspoons of cold water
• 
  
• Lemon Filling
• 80 grams of butter
• 160 grams of brown sugar (warning: this is really tangy, increase to 200 -250 grams if you want it sweeter, it is the juice of one full lemon per tartelette! )
• 4 eggs, size L
• Juice of four large lemons (about 180 milliliters)

Instructions

1

For the pastry dough mix the flour, almonds and icing sugar together. Cut the butter into cubes and create crumbs by rubbing the mixture between your fingers. Then add the egg yol and work into a dough. If need be, add about 1-3 teaspoons of cold water if still too crumbly. Wrap airtight and in the fridge for half an hour or overnight.

2

Cut the dough into four equal parts and roll out first part a little bigger than your tartelette dish. Line your dish with the pastry dough and cut off any overhang. Prick prepared pastry dough with a fork and repeat for the other three. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and cut out parchment paper the size of your tartelette dish. Crumple the parchment paper and place it on top of the tartelette form. Place uncooked beans or rice on the parchment paper (this is called blind-baking to ensure the crust retains its shape while baking). Bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 18-20 minutes on middle rack or until golden. Remove parchment paper and beans/rice and let cool. I usually have my “baking rice” stored in some jar and keep it all the time to pre-bake pies, tarts, etc.

3

While the crust cools offs, for the lemon filling melt the butter and set aside. Cream the four eggs with the sugar in a pot until volume has doubled and color has become much lighter (a few minutes). Add the juice of the four lemons and the slightly cooled butter into the eggs. Transfer to the stovetop and gently heat on medium low. Whisk constantly while waiting for the lemon curd to thicken (between 3-5 minutes). Pour the lemon filling into the tartelette forms and cool in the fridge for a few hours (no cover wrap needed).

4

Serve out of the fridge with either some mint leaves and drizzled honey or leave plain.

Notes

Use the best lemons you can find and the freshest eggs. You will taste all of it. The pastry dough is a bit tricky to handle, I know. Use flour generously when rolling it out. When transferring the rolled-out dough to the dish, a lot can go wrong. I highly recommend rolling out the dough to the desired size and then fold it like you would fold a piece of clothing. Only after you have done that, you may lift it from the surface and transfer it to the dish. Now you can unfold the dough and arrange it the way you like. If you crumple the parchment paper before you blind-bake the dough, it is a lot easier to handle.

I am sending you very yellow greetings,

Jenny