LEMON MERINGUE TART

This Lemon Meringue tart will become one of your favorites for sure. The crunchy crust, the acid note of lemon cream and the sweetness of the meringue combined in a perfect dessert. It will take some time to bake, but it's definitely worth it!



INGREDIENTS:

Pâte Sucrée (sweet shortcrust pastry):

210g plain flour, sifted
126g butter, cut into smallpieces, slightly softed
86g icing sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
26g almond flour
1 egg
1 vanilla pod, split lenghways

Lemon cream:
4 egg yolks
3 bio-lemons (zest and 100 ml juice)
135g fine sugar
165g unsalted butter, room temperature

Italian Meringue:
180g fine sugar
60g water
3 egg whites

Special equipment:
- piping bag
- star pastry tip for piping the meringue (I used Wilton 1M)
- a tart tin with removable bottom: 35x11 cm, 2.5 cm deep (like this)
  DIRECTIONS:

Pâte Sucrée*:
1. Combine sugar, salt and butter in a big bowl. Using the tip of a knife, scrape out the seeds from the vanilla pod and aad them to the bowl.With your fingertips, mix and cream everything nicely, then add the egg and work them delicately with your fingertips.
2. Little by little add some flour to the mixture and work it until you will have a homogeneous dough.
3. Gather dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and refrigerate 1 hour.

* If well wrapped, this pastry will keep in the freezer for up to 3 month.


Crust:
1.  You will nead a tart tin with removable bottom: 35x11 cm, 2.5 cm deep. Lightly butter it and chill on a baking tray.
2. Roll out the dough into a rectangle, 2-3mm thick.
3. Line the tin with the dough. Trim off the excess of the dough, gently press the dough edges up the side of the tin to form a fluted lip, about 2 mm. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F).  Line the dough with baking paper, fill with beans or peas (it will prevent the dough from rising or "sliding").
5. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the beans and paper and bake for a further 10-15 minutes, until lightly coloured.
6. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Lemon cream:
1. Place the sugar and lemon zest in a bowl. With your fingertips, rub the zest with sugar until the mixture is well combined.
2. Add to the mixture egg yolks and lemon juice. Mix well.
3. Transfer the mixture in a heavy-based soucepan and put it on medium heat. Cook until the cream thickens, stirring continuously: about 10-15 minutes or until it reaches a temperature 83C (181F)
4. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a bowl and let it cool to a room temperature.
5. Cut the butter into pieces and add into the mixture.
6. Whip the mixture with mixer on high speed for about 10 minutes.
7. Refrigerate until using.

 Italian Meringue:
1. Combine water with sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil over a high heat.
2. Reduce the heat to medium and brush down sides of the saucepan with a wet pastry brush to prevent any sugar crystals forming.
3. Meanwhile, beat the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until soft peaks form.
4. When the sugar syrup reaches 121C (250F), with the mixer running pour in the hot syrup into the egg whites. Continue to beat the mixture at medium speed until it has cooled to room temperature (about 15 minutes). The meringue will be thick and glossy.
5. Transfer the meringue to a piping bag fitted with a pastry tip like this.

Assembling:
1. Pour the cooled lemon cream into the cooled tart crust. Smooth the surface.
2. Pipe the meringue over the top of the tart. Brown thr meringue with a blow torch or bake under the broiler for a few minutes.
3. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve and enjoy!

You might also like: tart with fresh berries .