French Riviera Lemon Tart

 

We can dream of being in the French Riviera and, while dreaming, we can eat a delicious treat named for the French Riviera.  For this week's bake, Rob chose a recipe from Dorie Greenspan published in her cookbook, Baking With Dorie: Sweet, Salty & Simple. 

Ingredients

        Crust
  • 1 cup (136 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup (30 grams) confectioners' sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons or 2 ounces) unsalted butter or stick margarine, at room temperature, cut into 6-8 small pieces
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons MILD olive oil
  • 1 large egg yolk
        Filling
  • 3/4 cup (150 grams) sugar
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  • Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 2/3 cup (160 ml) freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 4-5 large lemons)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons or 2 ounces) unsalted butter or stick margarine, cut into small pieces
  • 2 tablespoons MILD olive oil

Instructions

Crust

Place the oven rack in the middle position and preheat the oven to 425 F. degrees. Do not use convection for this recipe. Place a 9-inch tart pan (with a removable bottom and fluted sides) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spray the tart pan with cooking spray. Zest one lemon. Set aside the zest. Juice 4 to 5 lemons in order to obtain 2/3 cup of fresh lemon juice.

Whisk 2 tablespoons of flour, all the confectioner's sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Drop in the pieces of butter or margarine and using your fingers, press and squeeze the butter/margarine into the flour mixture until it is well blended. Add the rest of the flour and stir the mixture with a fork or your hand.

Combine the olive oil and the egg yolk and pour the mixture into the flour. Using your hand, press and gently knead the ingredients together until a dough forms. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan. Bake the crust for 10 minutes. It should be light golden in color. Transfer the crust still on a baking sheet to a cooling rack while you prepare the filling. 

Filling

Whisk the sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest and lemon juice together in a medium saucepan. Add the eggs and egg yolks and whisk to blend. Place the pan over medium heat and whisk without stopping, making sure that the whisk is covering the entire bottom of the pan and the mixture does not boil. After 5-7 minutes, the mixture will have lightened in color and thickened. If you have an instant read thermometer, it should measure 170 F.

Remove the pan from the heat and whisk for a minute longer. Add the butter or margarine bit by bit until each piece is incorporated before adding the next piece. Whisk in the olive oil until it is thoroughly mixed into the lemon filling. Pour the filling through a single mesh sieve into the tart crust. (The sieve will capture any stray bits of scrambled egg. It happens to everyone). If you don't have a sieve, just pour the filling into the crust straight from the pot.

Refrigerate the tart for at least 1 hour but preferably 4 hours, UNCOVERED. If you cover the tart before the filling sets, you will disturb the glossy finish.

Notes

Serve with whip cream or fresh fruit if you like. The tart is best within a day or two of baking it.

Below are the photos of the bake.  The tart tasted delicieuse. Try baking this to feel as though you are visiting the French Riviera.




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