Like 
Save 
Share 
Comments (2)
Print 
In 2009 I recorded a YouTube video making this wonderful luscious lemon tart with hot butter pastry, and it’s now had over 90,000 views! My chef quality pastry and filling combination is truly delicious, and both are easy to make with your Thermomix. Serve your gorgeous lemon tart elegantly on its own, or add a drizzle, or a softly whipped spoonful, of double cream.
Many thanks for pastry inspiration to pâtissière Sam Gardiner of Glasgow, Scotland. Sam and I agree that this pastry is reliable, easy to work with and perfect for any sweet pastry requirement. I have used it for many years and love it – it’s like a wonderfully crisp shortbread and doesn’t go soggy when filled. The quantity of pastry in this recipe is more than you need, but I always make this much – it’s enough for two round, 28 cm diameter pastry shells, or one pastry shell and twelve shortbread biscuits – I often roll the second half of the leftover pastry dough into a log shape, then slice and freeze it so I’m able to bake instant shortbread biscuits (cookies) when I have visitors!
Many thanks too, for lemon filling inspiration, to Toby Gritten, chef-proprietor of acclaimed gastropub The Pump House in Bristol, England.
When I filmed this recipe for YouTube, the film crew’s eyes just about popped out of their heads as they watched the lemon filling being poured into the baked pastry shell, and there were sounds of pure pleasure when the tart was shared around and tasted! Since then, I am honoured and delighted that many people say this tart is one of their favourite desserts.
This recipe is suitable for Thermomix TM6, TM5 and TM31. It makes 1 large lemon tart to serve 12-16. You’ll also have enough pastry dough left for an extra pastry shell or 12 shortbread biscuits.
Method
Hot butter pastry
- Grind sugar 5 sec/speed 10.
- Add butter and melt 3 min/50ºC/speed 3 or longer until completely melted.
- Add flour and mix 2 sec/speed 6 until just clinging together, repeat if required. Divide pastry dough in half and immediately press half of warm pastry dough into a 28 cm diameter loose-bottomed round tart tin – this is easiest to do while pastry dough is still warm – see 1st tip for second half of pastry dough.
- Chill pastry shell (in tart tin) in fridge for 30 minutes – this will help to reduce shrinkage during baking; meanwhile preheat oven to 150ºC without fan/130ºC with fan/300ºF/gas 2/Aga baking oven.
- Bake tart shell 15-25 minutes until pastry is pale gold. Remove from oven, leave pastry shell in tart tin, and cool on a wire rack to room temperature.
Lemon filling
- Grind sugar 5 sec/speed 10.
- Add lemon peelings and grind 10 sec/speed 10, then scrape down sides of TM bowl and if there are any large bits of peel left, repeat until fine.
- Place a bowl on TM lid, set scales to zero, crack eggs into it until TM shows 500 g weight without shells, then set bowl aside. Scrape down lid and sides of TM bowl with spatula, add freshly squeezed lemon juice, double cream and eggs, then cook 7 min/80ºC/speed 3.
- Cool a small amount of filling mixture on a teaspoon, carefully taste it, then add a little more lemon juice if required to keep the flavour zingy (some lemons are sweeter than others), cook 45 sec/90ºC/speed 5, pour immediately into cooled pastry shell, spread out evenly, then leave to set in a cool place for at least 3 hours – see 2nd and 3rd tips. Transfer tart from tin to a beautiful serving plate, then slice and serve.
Can’t wait to try this pastry and tart. Sounds yummy x
Let me know how you get on! Hope you enjoy it as much as we do! X