Recipe: Edd Kimber’s Lemon Tart
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There’s not many desserts as classic and timeless as a lemon tart.
Simple and sweet in all the right ways despite its sour origins, it’s often deceptively tricky to get right and can take patisserie chefs a while to truly master. With Edd Kimber’s lemon tart recipe from his cookbook Patisserie Made Simple, he’ll guide you through the steps and secrets to making a perfect lemon tart, without having to have bucket loads of experience.
Edd says: “It is often said that the mark of a good pâtisserie or restaurant is the quality of its lemon tart – a deceptively simple recipe – and I would agree. Although the basic recipe is fairly straightforward – a lemon custard baked in a sweet pastry shell – making a perfect example with the right textures and flavours is the sign of a great pastry chef. My version isn’t a classic baked tart but a slightly more modern and easier take on the classic, using a lemon cream.”
Patisserie Made Simple by Edd Kimber is published by Kyle Books (£16.99). Photography by Laura Edwards.
The Edd Kimber Lemon Tart Recipe:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan oven)/gas 4 and line a baking tray with baking parchment. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface until it is about 2–3mm thick. Use this to line a 23cm tart ring or loose-based tart tin set onto your prepared baking tray. Trim off the excess pastry and put the tart in the fridge for 30 minutes or until firm.
Line the tart shell with a layer of baking parchment and fill with baking beans or rice. Bake for 25 minutes then remove the parchment and the beans and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely before assembling.
To make the lemon cream, put the lemon juice, eggs, yolks and sugar in a large pan over a medium heat. Stir the mixture constantly, until it reaches 75–80°C on an instant-read thermometer. (If you are worried about curdling the mixture you can cook this in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, but it will take longer.)
Pour the lemon mixture through a fine sieve into a medium bowl and leave to cool for 15 minutes or until lukewarm. Add the butter a few pieces at a time and, using a hand blender, process until smooth. Press a piece of clingfilm onto the surface of the cream and put it in the fridge for a few hours, or preferably overnight, until completely set.
Once the cream has set, stir lightly to loosen, then spread it onto the base of the tart, smoothing it into an even layer. Put the tart into the fridge and leave to chill for 2 hours before serving.
To decorate, put a little icing sugar in a sieve and use to dust over the edge of the tart, then sprinkle the pistachio nuts around the outside of the tart.
This looks lovely. Is there a link to the Pâte Sucrée recipe?
Thank you
LJ Stubbs
This tart looks divine! Can’t beat the zing of a lovely lemon dessert. Definitely will have to give this one a whirl!