Lemon Tart, Revised

Come on over.

I have eaten 4 pieces of lemon tart in the last two days.  That’s a lot of lemons.  And eggs.  I am going to blame it on Harvey.  I don’t know Harvey.  I only know the recipe called Harvey’s Lemon Tart, by Marco Pierre White.  The ingredient list was fantastic:  vanilla bean in the crust.  Lemon zest and juice of 5 lemons in the filling.  9 EGGS!  Harvey said we shouldn’t skimp on the filling because the tart (that is, ONE tart) should be nice and full.  The tart pan should be 20 cm in diameter, he said.  The oven at 120°C.

Off we went, Johanna and I, to the local store to pick up our lemons and eggs and butter and cream to make Harvey’s tart.  We followed Harvey’s directions to the letter.  (or rather, Johanna did. I was busy with making the main course of Reindeer Lindström Burgers which you’ll have to try out as well!

I don’t own a tart pan of any size.  I do own a cheesecake pan that is roughly 28 cm in diameter.  We used this. The crust was baked first, at 220°C, and with the vanilla bean and lemon zest, smelled divine.  The cold lemon filling mixture (or rather half of it – there was WAY more filling than needed for one tart) was poured into the hot crust to seal it off so there would be no leakage.  Other than the butter dripping from the cheesecake pan (I guess I need to buy a tart pan with a removable bottom), this worked quite well.  We baked the tart at 120°C for 30 minutes as instructed, pulled it from the oven, and let it cool for one hour.  At this point, the filling was still…sloshy.  There was no way it was going to set.  Meanwhile, Johanna had made another tart with the leftover crust and filling, and the skeptic (yes, that would be me) had raised the oven temperature to 150°C.  After 30 minutes, this one looked beautiful, but not quite “jiggly”.  We cooked it 10 minutes longer, and what a beauty it was!

The garden will have to wait.

The perfect lemon tart to bring a bit of sunny Spring joy to a snowy winter day.  Despite Harvey’s poorly designed instructions.  Many thanks to Marco Pierre White – the vanilla bean in the crust is subtle genius.  And to Johanna for finding the recipe and making it so that I could take pictures and write this post.

We took a chance and popped the second tart back into the oven to bake again.  30 minutes later, it was a little cracked in the middle from the early shaking to detect the level of sloshiness, but otherwise beautiful.  The perfect tang and zip of lemon next to the sweetness of the sugar and the delicate snap of a crust.

A few notes:  Use organic lemons, and wash them first in warm water. You will using a fair amount of lemon zest, and you don’t want the wax and toxins from non-organic lemons to mess up your beautiful tart.  If you don’t need two tarts, freeze the second (just wrap it highly in plastic cling wrap, then aluminum foil before freezing).  Then you have a lemon tart at the ready when you need one.

Here is the modified recipe below – leaving Harvey to his own devices, though keeping most of his ingredient proportions intact, and making this one simply:

based on Marco Pierre White’s Lemon Tart
makes 2 tarts & freezes well, though the crust won’t be crisp coming out of the freezer
Note:  revisions made from the recipe on the Caterer and Hotelkeeper website

Rustic beauty

Pastry Crust
500 g plain flour
175 g powdered sugar
250 g unsalted butter
grated zest of one organic lemon
1 vanilla pod, split open
2 eggs, beaten

Sift the flour and powdered sugar on a work surface and work int he butter with a pastry cutter or a fork. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the lemon zest, scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean pod, and add the 2 eggs.  Combine the mixture with your fingers until everything is combined into a smooth dough.  Divide the dough into 2 parts, flatten each half into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 


Preheat oven to 180°C.  Roll out the pastry crust onto a lightly floured surface that is that is large enough to line a 20 cm tart tin, (or a 9″ pie pan would work just fine as well…or a cheesecake pan as we used).  Lay the rolled pastry over the tin and press it lightly into the bottom and sides.   Repeat with the second crust.  Prick the pastry crust all over with a fork, and bake the pie crusts for 10 – 15 minutes in the oven, or until lightly golden brown. 


Reduce oven temperature to 150°C.


Lemon Filling

Winter dose of Sunshine

9 eggs
400 g white granulated sugar
grated zest of 2 organic lemons
juice of 5 organic lemons
250 ml of whipping cream

While the crust is cooling in the fridge, make the lemon filling.  Whisk the eggs, sugar, and lemon zest together in a large bowl until smooth.  Add the lemon juice and the cream, and stir with a rubber spatula until evenly combined.  Try not to add too much air as this will form bubbles that you’ll need to skim off later.  Allow the filling to rest until the crust has finished baking.  Divide into two equal parts.


When the crust is baked and ready, remove any foam or bubbles on the surface of the lemon mixture and pour the lemon mixture into the hot pie crusts.  Bake in the 150°C oven for 30 – 40 minutes, until the center of the tart is slightly firm but still jiggles.  Remove from the oven and cool for at least one hour.

For garnish
50 g of powdered sugar
fresh mint sprigs
fresh berries (raspberry, blackberry or blueberry look beautiful)

Using a sifter or a wire strainer, lightly dust powdered sugar around the edge of the tart (optional.  I’d run out of powdered sugar at this point, which is why you can’t see any in these pictures).  Place a few fresh mint sprigs in the center and toss a few fresh berries onto the tart, or serve the berries on the individual serving plates.  Each pie serves 8.