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A QUICK LEMON TART FROM ITALY

Quick Lemon Tart

One of my favourite books in the last few years has been Helena Attlee’s The Land Where Lemons Grow. It is a happy mix of food, history, art and Italy thus covering many of my interests; it is also beautifully written and so withstands many readings without becoming tedious. 

The book traces the development of the growing of citrus fruits throughout the Italian peninsular and specifically the lemons for which Italy is justifiably famous. In the UK, the vast majority of our lemons are imported from Spain and whilst they are reliable workhorses in the kitchen (or in the gin), for me they lack the added dimension of fragrance and flavour that some with Italian lemons, specifically those from the area around Sorrento or from Sicily. 

Unfortunately for we cooks, Spanish lemons tend to be at a more economical price point and I use them for the majority of food where lemon is a supporting act, rather than the star of the show. Where a dish has lemon as the main act, I do try to find and use Sorrentine or Sicilian lemons, especially if I am using the zest. This part of the lemon is where I feel the main advantage lies in Italian lemons; there is something deeply aromatic and almost woody in the zest that out-performs the Spanish cousins. A further advantage is that tend to be somewhat larger so do go further.

I have a vast repertoire of lemon dishes (although I cannot abide lemon meringue pie!) and have been in pursuit of the perfect lemon tart for many years. Mercifully, the wonderful Felicity Cloake has now written up the perfect tarte au citron in her fab book Perfect Two. It is however, not a recipe to be hurried or done in a spare half hour, as the author herself says, so much I love this recipe and commend it wholeheartedly, I have also been searching for a quicker, more “do-able” tart and this is it. It is a variation on a torta al limone as found in the iconic Italian cookery book, The Silver Spoon. Now I love this book, despite it being roughly the size and weight of two house bricks, but it does have shortcomings. It makes no concessions to one’s experience (or lack of) and thus assumes you know how to undertake certain cooking processes and can tell when something is done. The prime example of this assumption is that it never specifies what size cake, tart or flan to to use. In other words, you will have learned all the basics from your mother and/or grandmother and this is just to provide you with ingredients and (approximate) cooking times!

I have to admit that I got this recipe wrong a couple of times but I’d like to think that I’ve ironed out all the wrinkles and have also added additional information that might be helpful. It has a simplicity that showcases Sorrentine or Sicilian lemons to perfection and I like to serve it with creme frâiche or home made (or very high quality bought) vanilla ice cream.

If you don’t feel like making pastry but quite fancy making the tart, do feel free to use an all-butter bought pastry but in this case, I would blind bake it first (see recipe)

A Quick Lemon Tart

Print Recipe
Serves: 6 Cooking Time: 30 minutes cooking

Ingredients

  • Pastry (as per my Rhubarb Almond Tart)
  • 250g plain flour or Italian Tipo 00
  • 125g unsalted butter, very cold from the fridge and cut into small cubes
  • 1 medium free range egg, lightly beaten
  • 100g icing sugar
  • tiny pinch of sea salt
  • Filling
  • 3 medium free range eggs
  • 140g caster sugar
  • finely grated zest of two unwaxed Sorrentine or Sicilian lemons
  • juice of one Italian lemon
  • 150g softened unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
  • A well buttered 21cm loose bottomed flan tin. I have neither the inclination nor space to collect flan tins in every possible size, so I use a loose bottomed sandwich tin for this; no fluted edge but I can live with that. Happily, both are about 3cms deep.

Instructions

1

Pre-heat the oven to 160C fan

2

To make the pastry, place the flour and butter in a food processor and whizz until fine breadcrumb stage

3

Add the sugar, mix briefly and add the egg and salt

4

Whizz until a soft dough is achieved; tip out of the processor and form into a flattened ball, wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes

5

When time is up, roll out to fit the flan tin and press the dough gently into the tin

6

Unusually for flans, this recipe doesn’t require baking blind first but somehow (miraculously!) avoids a soggy bottom, at least in a fan oven

7

If you are using bought pastry, increase the oven to 170C, prick the base of the pastry lightly with a fork, line with baking parchment and baking beans; put in the oven for 20 minutes, remove the paper and beans and return to the oven for another 5 minutes

8

After removing the case from the oven, reduce the heat to 160C

9

Beat the eggs with the caster sugar in a large bowl until the mixture becomes creamy with a small amount of foam on top

10

Stir in the lemon zest and juice and then stir in the butter, mixing well

11

Pay attention at this point as if you over mix, the mixture can curdle, which doesn’t affect the flavour but will affect the texture; it’s probably safer to mix by hand at this point rather than use a mechanical mixer

12

Pour the mixture into the pastry case and bake for about 30 minutes until golden and firm to the touch

13

Cool in the tin then dust with icing sugar, remove from the tin and serve with creme frâiche or ice cream

Notes

This looks very pretty topped with raspberries or halved strawberries, too. I have also tried this as a blood orange tart with some success (but I do love lemon!) in which case I like to sprinkle with cocoa powder, as indeed I did for the lemon tart in the photo

 

Desserts & Savouries

HAVING YOUR CAKE……

Cake and I have a troubled relationship. I don’t buy shop cakes (unless as a dessert for entertaining as you will see elsewhere here) because I have done a deal with myself that if I want it badly enough I have to go to the bother of making it. By and large, I don’t have a sweet tooth and if you were to say to me that I have to live the rest of my life with only either cheese or chocolate or cake, it would be cheese all day long. So I am not one of life’s great cake bakers, consequently this site might be a bit light on cake stuff for those of you for whom a cup of tea or coffee is too wet without cake.

You certainly won’t find complicated recipes for whipped cream-laden gateaux, with chocolate curlicues and more fruit than an orchard. I admire the skill and craftsmanship that goes into making them, but speaking as someone who has to watch her weight, I am grateful that I can stroll past a patisserie without feeling any temptation……

Actually, that isn’t quite true: the pasticcerie of Turin and Naples exercise a pull on me, but for elegant, light pastries, not creamy, chocolatey extravaganzas. And when I am there, I will have one with a good espresso and thoroughly enjoy it. Interestingly, they are also significantly more petite than pastries we find in this country not to mention generally speaking, better quality. I have a feeling that the pasticcerie of Italy might be a whole other post, so here I shall pull myself back to the trusty lemon cake.

Given that I am not a great cake fan, this is my absolutely favourite cake, because it is a single clear note of flavour, i.e.  lemon and it has an elegant refinement that appeals to me. It stands up for itself, saying OK, I’m just a simple lemon cake but I am the best lemon cake I can possibly be. Which is where ingredients come in. Please don’t be tempted to make this with any form of margarine or “spread” (yuck) or even salted butter, which will overwhelm the clean fragrance and flavour of the lemon. And do try to use free-range organic eggs, because their yolks will give a better colour to the finished cake. As we are using the zest, I also use unwaxed lemons, but even these I wash before we start. Please don’t scrub them as you risk scrubbing out the precious lemon oil in the zest. Oh and don’t let the simple method and short ingredient list fool you: this is sumptuous in its simplicity.

Tipsy Lemon Drizzle Cake

Print Recipe
Serves: 8 Cooking Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 120g unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 170g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 170g caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp gin
  • zest of two lemons
  • 2 medium free range eggs, beaten up in a cup
  • For finishing the cake:
  • 100g icing sugar
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 2 tbsp gin
  • 1 x 0.5kg/1lb loaf tin, base & long side lined and then greased with butter

Instructions

1

Pre-heat the oven to 180 C/170C fan

2

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy

3

Add the beaten egg, a little at a time, beating well after each addition

4

Sift the flour and baking powder into the mixture and fold in ensuring you preserve the air as you go

5

Add the lemon zest, milk, juice and gin; if you'r not using the gin, replace it with another tablespoon of lemon juice

6

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, ensuring you haven't created air pockets by giving it a sharp tap on the work top

7

Put in the centre of the oven for about an hour and then test with a metal skewer which should emerge clean, if not repeat at five minute intervals until you have a clean skewer

8

Once cooked, leave it in the tin for five minutes then turn on the a rack to cool

9

While it's still warm I love to feed it with either lemon juice or gin or a mixture of both (you know the drill: holes with a skewer and the liquid dribbled in)

10

As it cools, mix the icing sugar with the juice of half a lemon and 1 tablespoon of gin, or you can use all lemon

11

I have tried all gin but it wasn't popular!

12

You're aiming here for the consistency of thick double cream so adjust appropriately

13

Spoon the icing over the cake - I quite like the icing to drip down the sides - and leave to set

14

Don't under any circumstances refrigerate this as something happens which prevents the icing from setting

Notes

This works as a dessert cake, served with berries, baked apricots or baked rhubarb and creme fruit, so it is a useful cake to have around. I have also tried this with orange and whisky and although I don't care for it that much, it did find a fan base.