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Zakia / Avenue Z Desserts
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Owner and Head Cake Designer of Avenue Z Desserts, a custom cake and confections boutique in NYC.
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Tuesday, April 8, 2008

The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart



This weeks Tuesdays With Dorie recipe is The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart chosen by Mary of Starting From Scratch.

Reading so many food blogs I constantly see the words MYER LEMONS, so i thought this was my chance to use them. I really wanted to get some, but my local supermarkets do not carry them and I did not have the means to travel to get them. But they are on my list of things to try.

So I just used regular supermarket lemons. After scrubbing green ink off the my supermarket lemons (why do they need to stamp Sunkist on the lemon and put a Sunkist sticker?) i started my cream. I had some trouble with my lemon cream. I used a metal bowl and didn't have a problem with the temperature but to me my consistency no good. I'm not sure if i really had trouble or if i was expecting something else (i was thinking the consistency of a lemon meringue pie filling). After 24 hours in the fridge, it seemed like my cream would never get thick enough. Eventually i just spread it into the tart shell and put it in the fridge again. Then it started to thicken even more. The final cream was was soft (a little grainy), but firm enough to hold swirls made a with spatula and to make a semi-clean slice.

The crust was really simple, but i had to use two yolks. I dont know why but lately all my eggs yolks have been different sizes. I only buy large eggs but if you saw the yolks that come out of this egg - it was so small. I also added about 2 tsp of ice cold water to bring it together since it was like sand. I had no problems lining my tart pan, freezing the crust or baking the crust. I have a little lemon cream left over but it may be because I used a different sized tart pan - a rectangular one.

I made some candied lemon slices to garnish it. Wow those things are good, and i didn't even dip them in sugar afterward. I will use the leftover syrup to go over a lemon cake i will make later this month.

I ate one slice, it was good but a bit much for me. I like lemon but i'm not really a lemon lover so I cant really give a consensus on how it tasted since it was only ready yesterday and I haven't had a chance to share it with anyone. This is one of the challenges where is have to share since I am not a lemon lover, there is no way i can finish this off by myself.

I am thinking to make the orange and/or lime tart in the near future, especially since its spring. I would think that you could just sub the zest/juice with a different citrus and have the same results but depending on which citrus you use the cream recipe is different. I wonder why?
I am eager to see all the lemon and orange creams made this week and what the outcome out was.

**After looking at various entries today I have decided that i too want smooth and silkly pale yellow lemon cream, sooo i will be trying this cream again. I do not have a food processor/blender, only a KA stand mixer, KA hand held mixer and a immersion blender. Any suggestions on which i should use when incorporating the butter**

For a printable verion of the recipe click here

Click here to check out other Tuesdays with Dorie bakers.


Last Week: Gooey Chocolate Cakes
Next week: Marshmallows

14 comments:

ostwestwind said...

Oh, you hadn't the chance to use Meyer lemons, I never found them in Germany! You tart looks appetizing.

Ulrike from Küchenlatein

Rebecca said...

Candied lemon slices! Great idea. I used grocery lemons, too, and I'm with you on that green ink. Blech.

Marie said...

I have never been able to find Meyer lemons but sure wish I could. Your tart looks fabulous and I love the idea of the candied lemon slices! I made the orange version of the tart and it turned out delicious as well, even if it wasn't exactly like I had envisioned it should be!

Sarah said...

I used plain ole lemons too, but it was tasty. I like the candied lemong slices...a great garnish that is also tasty! :)

LyB said...

Your tart looks great! I saw someone post pictures using their KA stand mixer with the whisk attachment to blend in the butter. Hope this helps!

Mary said...

the candied lemon slices were such a great idea and look yummy! I don't know how to answer your question about which gadget works best....I used the blender and it worked well.

Annemarie said...

I love the canidied lemon slices! I would try the immersion blender and blend...and blend...and blend. Really, blend the sucker after each butter addition, and then blend another 10 min. Hope it works!

Mari said...

Good luck with lemon cream 2.0!

Melissa said...

Great idea with the candied lemon slices!

Jayne said...

I should have made candied lemon peel - what a perfect garnish!

Re - whether to use the KA mixer, handheld, etc, when mixing in the butter - I used my larger stand mixer and a whip and added the butter that way and it worked out great. Hope that helps!

Natalie said...

I've been having a similar problem with my egg yolks. Same dozen, one will be huge and the next will be tiny. It's an adventure when you're trying to bake, that's for sure!

Great job!

(I tried to candy some lemon peel and made a huge honking mess in my kitchen - should have just followed Dorie's recipe!)

Carrie said...

I also added 2 Tbs ice water to the crust, using a pastry cutter.
The candied lemon slices must have been a perfect compliment to this tart.

CB said...

I totally thought the same thing about the sticker and the stamp on the lemons! Overkill anyone? LOL. Lovely tart.
Clara @ I♥food4thought

Gretchen Noelle said...

Glad you enjoyed the lemon tart! Candied lemon slices are a great idea!