Recipe Box < Desserts

Lemon Tart

What is needed: 

Ingredients:

5 large eggs

2 1/4 cup sugar

1 cup lemon juice

1 cup of flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

The Crust: Roll out pie crust on a lightly floured surface into a large circle approximately 1" bigger than your 9" tart pan. Lay your rolling pin horizontal on top of rolled out pie crust, about a 1/3 of the way from the top of rolled out circle. Gently pick up the top of the pie crust and lay over the top of rolling pin. Now, gently roll rolling pin towards you wrapping the pie crust around the rolling pin. Pick up and gently place the rolling pin with dough horizontal, a little over the top edge of tart pan. Gently unroll the dough towards you over the entire top of tart pan. Now, the dough should be slightly overlapping the entire top of tart pan. Use your fingers gently press the dough into the bottom of the tart pan and up the sides turning tart pan as you go. Once you have the dough pressed into the bottom and sides of the tart pan, remove excess dough by placing the rolling pin horizontal across dough-filled tart pan and pressing down gently roll the rolling pin towards you. This will perforate the dough. Remove the neatly perforated edges of the dough from around the outside of your tart pan.

Lemon Filling: In a medium bowl add all ingredients. With a mixer, blend well until well incorporated and smooth. Pour lemon mixture into unbaked, prepared tart pan. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes until lemon filling is set. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Place tart in the refrigerator and chill for 2 hours.

Serving Suggestions:

Leave plain or garnish with powdered sugar and/or fresh berries like raspberries or blueberries.

Helpful Hints:

There are several choices to get fresh lemon juice. The first is to use fresh lemons. Look for bright yellow, unblemished lemons that have a slight give when gently squeezed. You will need anywhere from 10 to 15 lemons. To get the most juice from the lemon, place the lemon on a hard surface, like your kitchen counter top, and using the palm of your hand firmly roll the lemon back and forth several times. When you cut the lemon and squeeze, you will get more juice using this method.

Another option is to use reconstituted lemon juice. However, this type of juice has a bitterness and does not have a fresh-squeezed flavor.

The better option of the two is to look for "fresh squeezed" lemon juice found in your grocer's freezer section. It will come in a carton and be labeled "fresh squeezed" lemon juice. This is an all natural product with no sugar added. Read the label carefully to be sure you are not buying lemonade mix. This is a great item to have stocked in your freezer.

Don't have a tart pan? No problem, use a 9" glass baking pie dish. The only difference will be in the presentation and both are stunning.