« Tarte au Citron »

Is there a more quintessential French desert than Tarte au Citron? I have not made one in years, but was inspired to bake one last weekend after buying some meyer lemons at the fruit market.

I have used Martha Stewart's recipe in the past. But for a change of pace, I decided to try a recipe by David Lebovitz this time around. (I was also intrigued by this recipe, submitted in 2004 to Gourmet Magazine by Thomas Keller. I have it on my list to try at a later time.)

This recipe definately produces a lemon curd on the tart side. If you like a sweet lemon curd, I would recommend adding a little more sugar.  I did not decrease the amount of sugar, despite using meyer lemon juice, and the curd was still a bit tart.

This recipe is very straight forward.  The lemon juice, sugar and butter are placed in a heavy sauce pan to heat.  After the butter is melted, the egg/egg yolk mixture is added to the pan.  The mixture is then cooked over low heat until it is thickened.

David recommended passing the curd through a fine metal strainer, before placing it into the cooked tart shell.  I omitted this step because the recipe produced a curd that was smooth and silky.  To set the curd, I placed the tart in a 350 degree oven for five minutes.

I was extremely happy with the way that the tart came out.  This recipe is definately a keeper! (Click here for a printable version of the recipe.)