La La La Lemon!

Yayy!! It's Tuesdays with Dorie day and finally . . . FINALLY . . . there is a challenge that doesn't involved oodles of chocolate, liquor or coffee! Welcome to my Tuesdays With Dorie post, that one day a week when a boot-load of bakers the world over get together and bake one recipe from that delightful baking book, "Baking, from my home to yours," written by the Grande Dame of baking herself, Ms Dorie Greenspan! It seems like forever since I have been able to participate and I was thrilled to finally be able to bake one of the recipes. With a chocolate hating husband and a faith that eschews both coffee and alcohol, it was getting quite difficult here at Oak Cottage to be able to partipate and I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever be able to be a TWD'er again!



This week's recipe was the Tartest Lemon Tart on page 336, as chosen by Babette from Babette Feasts. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Babette! I was so thrilled that it was not a chocolate creation!! Lemons I can do, and quite happily too, for lemon is my most favourite flavour of all flavours!



What can I say about this tart. With it's deliciously nutty almond crust, and puckery tart lemon filling, this tart was amazing on so many levels. Simple. Clean. Very easy to do, and oh so very delicious we loved this tart, we really did.



I had read on the Tuesdays With Dorie page that several of the ladies were finding it a bit bitter and so I opted to trim away am much of the pith as I could. I used my microplane to zest the lemon and a half that I needed, then I trimmed the pith off and discarded it, chopping the lemon flesh into bits before I flung the whole lot into my lemon yellow kitchen aid blender. (I won it as a prize you know, for having the Star Letter of the month in Sainsbury's Magazine . . . the blender, that is.)



It was all I could do to wait for it to cool. I am a Lemon nut. I love Lemon anything. I adore Lemon!



I thought the perfect go with would be a blackberry coulis, so I blended some blackberries with a bit of LEMON juice and some sugar in my lemon yellow blender and then I strained it and put it into a squirt bottle so that I could spritz it across my plate. Dusted with some icing sugar and garnished with a few more blackberries, it looked wonderful. All it needed now was a dollop of creme fraiche. Come big or stay home, I always say!



Mmmmm . . . this was one very delicious tart! I loved it!



If you would like the recipe I'd normally say hop on over to Babette's page to get it, but hmmm . . . she hasn't posted it. I'll just have to give it to you here. In the meantime if you want to check out how all the other bakers did, visit the Dorie Blog Roll and check out the list of bakers. Thanks Babette for a wonderful choice this week!



*Tartest Lemon Tart*
Serves 8
Printable Recipe

1 1/2 lemons scrubbed and dried (I used un-waxed)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 1/2 TBS cornstarch
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 stick (4 TBS) melted unsalted butter, cooled
1 9-inch tart shell, partially baked and cooled
Whipped cream, creme fraiche for topping (optional)
icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Centre a rack in the oven and pre-heat the oven to 160*C/325*F. Place the partially baked tart shell onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Set aside.

Grate the zest from your lemons. Slice the whole lemon in half. Remove the seeds from all the lemon halves. Taking a sharp knife peel away all the white pith. (this is the bitter part) Cut the lemon halves into small bits. Put it all, the zest, the lemon flesh, and any juice into your blender along with the sugar. Pulse and blend until you have a smooth mixture. Add the remaining filling ingredients and pulse and blend until you have a smooth homogenous mixture. Remove the blender jug and rap it down on the counter a few times to work out any air bubbles and then pour it into the partially baked crust.

Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 180*C/350*F and bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes. (Dorie says not to worry if the filling begins to bubble up or bubble over the edge of the crust.) It is done when it is set, but a bit shaky in the centre. There should be a slight sugar crust over top.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Serve with some cream, creme fraiche and a dusting of icing sugar. (Or with berries as I have done!)

Enjoy!

Next week's recipe is the Mango Bread on page 45, as chosen by Kelly of Baking With The Boys. Yummo!! I love, Love, LOVE Mango!!