Tarte au Citron

This desert is famous in Menton on the French Riviera, which is also known as ‘The City of Lemons’. Every year the colourful seaside town hosts a Lemon Festival with carnivals and exhibitions dedicated to the fruit, and it’s where you’ll find a lot of Tarte au Citron served!

For the pastry

Ingredients;

• 250 g butter
• 125g sugar
• 375g flour
• 1 egg
• half teaspoon of vanilla essence
• beaten egg white
• pinch of salt

Method

Cream the butter and sugar together until nice and soft.

Slowly mix in all the other ingredients to form a nice soft dough and chill for about 2 hours

Roll out the pastry and line a 25 – 30 cm tartlet shell mould, then chill in the fridge again before use.

Bake the pastry blind in a preheated oven at 190°C for 12 – 15 minutes

Brush the inside of the pastry case with beaten egg white and return to the hot oven until lightly browned.

Leave to cool completely. This will seal the pastry and keep it crisp when it’s filled

Filling

Ingredients;

• 180g caster sugar
• 300ml whipping cream
• 3 medium sized eggs
• 200ml lemon juice
• 10g lemon zest
• 20g icing sugar

Reduce oven temperature to 140°C

Mix together the eggs and sugar in a bowl until well blended. Add the zest and lemon juice. Mix the cream into the lemon mixture and pass through a sieve.

Pour the lemon mixture into the pastry case, filling right to the top of the crust, and place in the oven.

Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 40 – 50 minutes until the custard is almost set. It’ll still be slightly wobbly but will continue to set as it cools.

Allow to cool completely on a sire rack.

Portion the tart and dredge with icing sugar and caramelise to a dark golden crust.

Serve with a scoop of raspberry sorbet and enjoy.