← Nouns Cooking · French

Ingredients

• 200 g plain flour
• 60 g Icing sugar
• 1 pinch Salt
• 100 g cold butter, cubed (for the pastry)
• 1 egg yolk (for the pastry)
• 1 tbsp cold water
• 4 unwaxed lemons (zest of 2, 150 ml juice)
• 150 g caster sugar
• 3 whole eggs (for the filling)
• 3 egg yolks (for the filling)
• 150 g butter, cubed and softened (for the filling)

Method

1. For the pastry, pulse the flour, icing sugar, salt and cold butter in a food processor until sandy. Add the yolk and water and pulse until it clumps. Press into a disc, wrap and chill for 30 min.
2. Roll out and line a 23 cm loose-bottomed tart tin, prick the base and chill for 15 min more. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, 350°F).
3. Line the pastry with baking paper and baking beans and bake for 15 min, then remove the paper and beans and bake for 10–12 min more until evenly golden and crisp. Cool completely.
4. For the lemon cream, whisk the zest, juice, sugar, eggs and yolks together in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. Stir constantly for 10–12 min, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon thickly (about 80°C/176°F).
5. Strain into a clean bowl and cool for 10 min, then whisk in the soft butter a few cubes at a time until smooth and glossy.
6. Pour into the cooled pastry case, smooth the top and chill for at least 2 hours until set. Dust with icing sugar or top with berries to serve.

Tips

• Never let the lemon cream boil, or the eggs will scramble; low and slow is the way.
• The pastry case can be baked a day ahead and kept airtight.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

RecipeTin Eats BBC Good Food Serious Eats