Palmabella's Passions

The first recipe I tried from my new cookbook, Tartine, by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson, was this one for "Lemon Cream Tarts".

Sweet Tart Dough
(This makes enough for 4 9" tart shells, or 12 4 " tartlet shells, so I halved it.)

1 cup plus 2 T unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 t. salt
2 large eggs at room temperature
3 1/2 cups flour

Using a mixer, combine butter, sugar, salt, and mix on medium speed until smooth. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add flour all at once, and mix on low, just until incorporated. On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into 4 balls, and shape each ball into a flattened disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours or overnight.

When ready to make tart, place dough on a floured surface, and roll out to 1/8" thickness, and two inches larger than pan you are using. Fold dough, spread it into tart pan, pressing gently into place on bottom and sides of pan. Trim dough from top of pan with a knife, and chill dough in fridge or freezer for 15 minutes.

Any remaining dough can be frozen for future use.

For this recipe, tart was cooked completely. Preheat oven to 325.
Using a fork, prick tart shell every two inches. Bake for about 15 minutes, until shell is light golden color. Bake smaller shells about 5 minutes less. Cool on a wire rack.

*This dough is really easy to work with. This dough is used for all of the sweet tart fillings at the bakery, Tartine, in San Francisco. The recipe originally came from a bakery in the south of France.

Lemon Cream

1/2 cup plus 2 T. lemon juice
3 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
3/4 c. sugar
pinch of salt
1 cup unsalted butter

Simmer some water in bottom of a double boiler, or saucepan that a stainless steel bowl will fit inside the rim without touching the water. Combine lemon juice, whole eggs, yolk, sugar and salt in a stainless steel bowl or top of double boiler. Whisk ingredients constantly for 10-12 minutes until thickened and mixture coats a spoon.
When lemon curd mixture is done, remove from heat. Meanwhile, quickly cut butter into 1 T. pieces. Using either a regular blender, or an immersion blender, add pieces of butter to lemon mixture, blending after each addition of butter. The cream will be pale opaque yellow, and quite thick. Refrigerate in air tight container, or after chilling for a few minutes, spread into baked tart shell. I chilled my tart until serving.

Both the pastry and the filling were easy and delicious. KEEPERS! The lemon filling would be great in a trifle!