Very Fresh Lemon Tart - French Tarte Au Citron

BecR's Note:

If you are a lemon-lover like me, you will love this tart! Thin and elegant, with plenty of fresh lemon flavor. P.S. If you want more filling, feel free to double the recipe; any filling that you don’t use can be spread on toast, fresh biscuits, or scones, and it freezes well. If you use Meyer lemons, reduce the sugar slightly. You will need a 10-inch (24cm) tart pan with removable bottom. Recipe is from Executive Chef Billy Grant, who created a lemon dessert tasting with his pastry chef, Fran Marino, for his Beard House debut, and it has been on his restaurant menu ever since. This tart was paired with a lemon mascarpone mousse and lemon gelato to make it a very lemony affair, indeed. Note: Time does not include overnight chill time for the filling, plus one hour chill time for the Pâte Brisée pastry.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 10 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 10

Yield: 1.0 10-inch ...

Filling

• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 lemon, zest of , minced
• 1 lemon, juice of (or 2-3 tablespoons)

Pate Brisee (Tart Pastry)

• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter , cut into cubes and chilled (14 tablespoons)
• 1 egg
• 1 -2 tablespoon heavy cream , chilled

Directions:

1. To prepare the filling, combine all of the ingredients, cover, and let sit in the refrigerator overnight. Before finishing the tart, take the filling out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature.
2. To make the pastry, mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the butter and combine by hand, rubbing the butter into the flour mixture, until it all starts to come together but is still slightly lumpy. Add the egg and just enough cream to bring the mixture together into a smooth dough with some streaks of butter still visible. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 350ºF(175ºC). Grease and flour a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/8 to 1/4 inch and transfer to the prepared tart pan. Line with aluminum foil, weigh down with pie weights or beans, and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove the weights and foil and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, until the tart shell is cooked through and golden.
4. Lower the oven temperature to 300ºF(150ºC). Stir the room-temperature filling to combine. Pour the filling into the baked shell and bake until set, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, cool to room temperature, and chill before cutting.