We have been watching America’s Test Kitchen to help us fall asleep, taking our minds off the news and the ugly reality of late. This recipe was on Season 20 and I was taken right away. We love lemon and this one definitely ticks a lot of boxes, it’s not sickly sweet and it IS sooooo lemony. If you like lemon, I urge you to make this tasty treat. Note that I did not love their pastry recipe so I substituted my tried and true Viennese Pastry recipe.
I decided to brulée the top just as my favourite French Bistro does with their Tarte au Citron (which incidentally takes two days to make!)
Lemon Olive Oil Tart
Please click here for the original recipe from America’s Test Kitchen.
Makes about six 8 cm pastry shells with a total of 300 mL lemon curd filling
Ingredients for the pastry:
- 145 g all-purpose flour
- 60 g sugar
- 2 g salt
- 114 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 egg yolk
- ½ tsp pure vanilla
- 1 tsp finely grated lemon rind
Pastry Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Put all ingredients into a food processor and process JUST until the dough sticks together (over-processing will cause tough pastry). Divide into six even discs and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Lightly flour your board and roll out the pastry to fit your preferred pan (I used 8 cm round pans). Dock the bottom with a fork several times.
- Blind bake the crust 30 minutes or until golden. You may need to reshape the pastry, mine got all puffy and misshapen because I didn’t refrigerate long enough and it was a super hot day.
Ingredients for the curd:
- 70 g sugar
- 10 g AP flour
- Pinch of salt
- 2 large eggs plus 1 large yolk
- lemon zest of one lemon
- 130 mL lemon juice
- 40 mL extra-virgin olive oil
Directions for the curd:
- Add all of the ingredients to a small, heavy-bottom pan and cook on low heat until it is 160F, and just slightly thickened.
- Strain through a fine-mesh sieve for a velvety finish. Refrigerate with an oiled parchment placed on top to prevent a skin.
- Pour into the prepared, hot shells and bake for 8-12 minutes until the centre jiggles a bit.
- Allow to cool completely before serving.
- Sprinkle with sugar and brulée the top, just as you would with crème brulée.
Notes:
- Fresh lemon juice is essential for a clean, lemony flavour.
- ATK felt that the olive oil helps the lemony flavour shine better than butter.
I love anything lemony and this sounds like a lovely little sweet to enjoy at the end of a meal.
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Very interesting. I love lemon curd, and have never heard of one made with olive oil. I’ve got to try it!
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I love olive oil cakes so now it’s time to try tarts, right? GREG
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Ooh I’m so intrigued by this, especially because I have a lot of lemons in my fruit basket at the moment! Thanks Eva! 😀
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If you love lemon like we do, you will absolutely love this tart, it is so lemony and not overly sweet. Thanks for your comment.
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Ah, lemon. Love it in desserts. Or anything, really, but it really shines in desserts. Well, and cocktails, too. 🙂 This looks wonderful — thanks.
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Thanks John, we love lemons too particularly in desserts, and cocktails! 🙂
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I’ve been on a roll making lemon desserts! Bill would definitely love these tarts (anything with a crust is fine with him!!). Love the mini versions!
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