The River Cafes Lemon Tart Recipes

THE RIVER CAFE'S LEMON TART

Steps:

• Sweet Pastry: Pulse flour, salt, and butter in a food processor until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Add confectioners' sugar followed by egg yolks and pulse. The mixture will immediately combine and leave the sides of the bowl. Remove pastry, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
• Tart: Preheat oven to 320 degrees.
• Coarsely grate chilled pastry into a 12-inch loose-bottomed fluted tart pan, then press it evenly onto the sides and base. Refrigerate 15 minutes.
• Line pastry shell with parchment and fill with raw rice or dried beans (or baking beans). Bake blind 20 minutes. Remove paper and rice, then bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes more. Let cool.
• Meanwhile, make filling. Put lemon zest and juice, granulated sugar, eggs, and egg yolks in a large saucepan over a very low heat and whisk until eggs have broken up and sugar has dissolved.
• Add half the butter and continue to whisk. At this point the eggs will start to cook, and the mixture will thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add remaining butter and continue whisking until mixture becomes very thick. It is important to keep whisking throughout cooking process to prevent mixture from curdling.
• Remove pan from heat and set it on a cold heatproof surface. Continue to whisk until mixture is lukewarm. Meanwhile, preheat broiler to high.
• Spoon lemon filling into pastry shell and let settle 5 minutes. Broil until top is mottled brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Let cool before serving.

LEMON TART RECIPE - LEMON CROSTATA FROM THE RIVER CAFE COOKBOOK

Steps:

• For the sweet pastry, pulse the flour and butter with a pinch of salt in a food processor, until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the icing sugar, followed by 3 of the egg yolks and pulse. The mixture will immediately combine and leave the sides of the bowl. Remove the pastry, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
• Heat the oven to 160°C/fan oven 140°C/mark 3. Coarsely grate half the pastry into a 30cm loose-bottomed fluted flan tin, then press it evenly onto the sides and base. Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes. Freeze the remaining pastry.
• Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper and fill with uncooked rice (or dried beans or baking beans). Bake blind for 20 minutes. Remove the paper and rice, then bake for a further 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Leave to cool.
• Meanwhile, make the filling. Put all the remaining ingredients, except the softened butter, in a large saucepan over a very low heat and whisk until the eggs have broken up and the sugar has dissolved.
• Add 150g of the butter and continue to whisk. At this point, the eggs will start to cook and the mixture will thicken enough to coat the back of a spoon. Add the remaining butter and continue whisking until the mixture becomes very thick. It is important to keep whisking throughout the cooking process to prevent the mixture from curdling.
• Remove the saucepan from the heat and set it on a cold heatproof surface. Continue to whisk until the mixture is lukewarm. Meanwhile, preheat your grill to full heat.
• Spoon the lemon filling into the pastry case and leave to settle for 5 minutes. Grill until the top of the crostata is mottled brown - this should take 3-5 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

THE BEST LEMON TART EVER

Steps:

• Combine butter, 1/2 cup sugar, vanilla extract, and salt in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer; mix ingredients thoroughly with a paddle attachment. Mix flour into butter mixture to make a smooth dough. Press dough into a 9-inch tart pan; refrigerate crust for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake crust until light golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Whisk sugar, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice, and 1/2 cup flour in a bowl until smooth. Pour lemon filling into crust. Cover edges of crust with strips of aluminum foil to prevent burning.
• Bake tart until filling is set, about 20 minutes. Cool completely and dust with confectioners' sugar.