Lemon Tart | Glutenfreewhisk

Today I am going to share with you a really refreshing recipe that is Lemon Tart. This recipe is something that you can enjoy at anytime of the day or even as a dessert. The kick of the lemon and the smooth texture of the lemon curd will make you want more and more of these tarts.

My mother simply loved these tarts and I love to make them. The tarts just takes few minutes to bake and I always use wheat flour to make them. These tarts are the perfect combination of smooth texture of  the lemon curd and the crisp tarts that makes them too good to ignore.
It may look like a bit technical recipe with few techniques like the making of smooth lemon curd and the blind baking of the tarts that may be new to you but it is a recipe worth trying and once you follow the instructions nothing is impossible. And there is always a first time for everything so why not now. Happy baking!!

RECIPE:
Ingredients:

For Tart Shell:
250 gms Wheat Flour
75 gms Chilled Butter
2 tbsp Powered Sugar
Chilled Water

For Lemon Curd:
80 gms Butter
2 Eggs
Lemon Juice of one lemon
1 tsp Lemon Zest
3-4 tbsp Powered Sugar
5-6 drops Vanilla Essence (Optional)
Chopped almonds, for garnish

 Method:

1. Take the wheat flour in a bowl and add powdered sugar, give it a mix. Now add the chilled butter and rub the flour with butter with hands unless it looks like bread crumb mixture. Now add the water to make it a nice dough. Refrigerate the dough for about 15-20 mins so that it becomes chilled again.
2. Make small balls (depending on your tart mould size) from chilled dough and roll them out into sheet, not very thin or not too thick.
3.  Cover the greased tart moulds carefully with the sheets pressing it on the edges and bottom and refrigerate them again for 10-15 mins.
4.  To bake the tarts shell the technique used is Blind Bake (In this heavy beads are used that are oven friendly and are put over each shell or even the pulses can be used if you cannot find the beads. the reason behind this technique is it does not allow the tart shell to rise while baking then in the oven). or you can prick the tart shell all over with the help of a knife or a fork.
5.  Bake the tart shells at 180 C for 10-15 mins or till they are done. Allow them to cool for sometime and demould them.
6. To make the lemon curd, Take a double boiler (Take a saucepan, fill it with water till half. Now take a bowl preferably glass bowl that fits just perfectly over the saucepan. This boiling water will provide the heat to cook the content in the glass bowl.) 
7. In the glass bowl of the double boiler add the eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest and sugar together and whisk them continuously. Make sure the heat of the double boiler is not too high once the water is boiled else the eggs will coddle and you don't want that. This will take around 15-20 mins. Now add butter to it and vanilla essence and keep on whisking till butter melts. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and stir the lemon curd to bring it to room temperature.
8.  Spoon the silky smooth lemon curd over the baked tart shells or pipe them with the help of piping bag. 
9.  Garnish with chopped almonds.

Note: Vanilla essence is not added in Lemon Tarts. But I like to add a few drops of the same as it kills the odour of the eggs also it provides a nice taste. That is why I have mentioned it as optional.
While making the tart shells it should be made sure that the butter and water used is chilled and the dough prepared it again chilled. This helps in making nice tarts.
While making the curd the whisking has to be continuous and the heat should not be too high.

Lemon Tart