Chef Randy Feltis makes a delicious and easy lemon tart.
Harvey’s Lemon Tart
500 g plain flour
175 g icing sugar
250 g unsalted butter, at room temperature grated
1 lemon zest
1 vanilla pod, split open
11/2 eggs, beaten
9 eggs
400 g caster sugar grated
2 lemons zest
5 lemons juice
250 ml double cream
50 g icing sugar
sprigs of mint
1. Sift the flour and icing sugar on to a work surface and work in the butter. Make a well in the centre and add the lemon zest and seeds scraped from the vanilla pod. Add the eggs. Knead the mixture with your fingers, working as quickly as you can, until everything is combined to a smooth dough.Wrap in plastic film and leave to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
2. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/355°F.
3. Grease a flan tin with a removable base that is 20 cm in diameter and 3.75 cm deep. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a disc large enough to line the tin and allowing an overhang of not less than 1 cm.
Lay the pastry gently into the tin.
4. Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper and fill with enough dry baking beans or lentils (or indeed any dry pulses) to insure the sides as well as the bottom are weighted. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the beans and greaseproof paper and trim off the overhanging pastry, then return the flan case to the oven to bake for a further 10 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, make the lemon filling. Whisk the eggs with the caster sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in the lemon juice, then add the cream. Continue to whisk until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. Skim any froth from the top.
6. Reduce the oven temperature 120°C/250°F. Pour the cold filling into the hot pastry case (this will insure that the case is sealed). Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool and set for about an hour.
7. When ready to serve, preheat the grill to very hot. Sift the icing sugar over the top of the tart and place it under the grill to caramelize the sugar to a light golden brown. Alternatively, you can just sprinkle the tart with icing sugar without caramelizing it. Cut the tart into slices and decorate each with a sprig of mint.
Courtesy Randy Feltis (featuring Marco Pierre White’s pastry recipe) http://www.oscarsrestaurant.ca/