Introduction: The Lemon Tart You Must Taste.
Welcome to this new recipe! Here we are going to make a lemon meringue pie recipe, I am not familiar with recipes like the Key Lime Pie etc... but this recipe is the modern version of the lemon pies we find in the fine French pastry shops. It is slightly acidic and the meringue gives it a lot of sweetness. I hope you will like it.
We're going to make this together:
- A sweet paste
- An almond cream
- A lemon cream
- An Italian meringue
- A lemon confit
Prepare your ingredients well and weigh them carefully, everything will be fine. ;)
Step 1: The Sweet Paste
To make this sweet paste you will need :
- 115 g of Flour (1)
- 340 g of flour (2)
- 230 g butter
- 115 g of icing sugar
- 115 g almond powder
- 95 g of eggs
- 4 g of fine salt
- A lemon zest
In the bowl of your food processor, place the butter (cold), almond powder, icing sugar, salt and flour (1). Turn gently until the butter pieces disappear.
Then add the eggs, one by one, careful, they must not be too cold (take them out of the fridge earlier if necessary). When the dough is homogeneous, add your lemon zest, and your flour (2). Turn again, but as little as possible. If you overmix the paste too much, it will become too crumbly and you will have trouble rolling it out.
Once your dough is taken out of the mixer, you will be able to weigh dough pieces of about 300g (for a 22cm tart circle) and place them in cling film. Leave the dough to rest in the fridge for about 24 hours.
The remaining dough can be kept in the freezer for the next pie! This dough goes well with all sweet pies.
Step 2: Candied Lemons
For the candied lemons recipe, you will need :
- 2 lemons
- the juice of 2 lemons
- 100 g of sugar
We will cut the two lemons into small pieces, you can change the size, but it seems to me that 4mm cubes are a very good compromise.
Put the small cubes in a small saucepan with the sugar, then squeeze the juice of two more lemons, taking care not to put the seeds.
Cook slowly for about 20 minutes, it should look like jam. Do not reduce it too much, it will thicken as it cools. Set it aside.
Step 3: The Almonds Cream
The almond cream is one of the basic creams of the pastry, it will be useful for a good number of creations and you should have fun to put some in many pies, it brings a lot of softness and is not at all dry.
You will need :
- 100 g of butter
- 100 g of icing sugar
- 100 g of eggs
- 100 g of almonds
- 2 lemon zests
First of all, take care to make a soft butter, in French we call it a beurre pommade. It must be soft like ointment but above all not melted! You can use your microwave, but no more than 10 seconds each time.
If the butter is melted, even a little bit, you won't be able to obtain a smooth and homogeneous mixture.
Once your butter is smooth and supple, you can add the zests and powders. Mix well, then add the eggs little by little. Until you get a very smooth cream. Put it aside.
You can put it in the refrigerator, you will just have to iron it in the microwave before using it.
Step 4: Your Sweet Paste Base
When your dough has cooled down, you can take it out to roll it out.
I always roll out my paste between two baking papers, so that I don't add unnecessary flour to change the texture of the paste.
I also use two small rulers of 3mm in order to have a regular thickness. Here I use a perforated circle and a micro-perforated silicone mat.
Spread your dough with a rolling pin and roll it into your pie circle. For this type of circle, take the time to butter the circle and place it in the freezer so that the paste does not fall back during baking.
Place this in the freezer, for an hour, and then pre-heat your oven to 165° celsius, using fan assisted if possible.
Step 5: The Lemon Curd
We'll prepare the lemon cream.
For this one you'll need:
- 4 medium sized lemons
- 150 g of sugar
- 3 eggs
- 15 g of starch
- 80 g butter
Begin by zest your lemons, and squeeze their juice in a saucepan (be careful not to put the seeds).
Mix the sugar and the starch, then add it to the pan.
Cook one minute after the first boiling. Remove in a container, passing it through a strainer to remove the zests and possible grains of starch.
When the temperature of the cream has dropped to 55° you can add your butter and blend for about 3 minutes, the mixture should be very very smooth. Be careful not to incorporate too much air bubbles into the cream, that's why I use here a hand blender.
Keep this preparation in the fridge for about 12 hours.
Step 6: Bake Your Pie!
Take your pie out of the freezer and put the almond cream in it right away.
And bake it at 165° celsius for about 20 minutes, when the tart is golden brown, as shown in the picture, you can take it out. Don't let it overcook, otherwise the almond cream will be too dry.
Take it out of the oven and let it cool completely.
Step 7: We're Finally Moving on to Assembly
Spread your lemon confit on the almond cream, a thin layer will be enough, the chunks are not a problem.
Once your lemon cream is well set, you can spread it delicately on the lightly dome-shaped pie.
Place it in the freezer, just enough time for you to make the Italian meringue and pipe it on.
Step 8: The Meringue (Italian Way)
Ingredients :
- 75 g of egg whites
- 150 g of sugar
- 50 g of water
Making an Italian meringue can seem complicated, but the secret is to respect the cooking temperature and not pour your syrup too quickly into the bowl!
In a saucepan, not too big, put the water, then the sugar.In the bowl of your robot, or with a hand robot, you're going to start gently mounting the whites.
Put your saucepan on the heat, and quickly heat your syrup up to 118 ° celsius.When your syrup is about 110 ° you can start whipping your whites at full speed.
When your syrup is at 118 ° celsius, pour it very gently along the side of your bowl. And keep whisking until the meringue is lukewarm! You should get a nice, creamy and shiny meringue that will form a nice bird's beak at the end of your whisk.
Step 9: It's Time to Finish That Pie!
It's time to put your meringue on the pie, there are a lot of very different techniques, here I decided to use a record player to poach a spiral with a small socket (here n°104), but you can poach dots, flames... as you wish.
Here's a link to show you how it works,
all credits to Yann Brys who invented this method in 2004.
If you're reading this, you've reached the end of the recipe, I'm proud of you, I hope you've learned here some techniques and tips that can help you in other situations. If that is the case, I would be really happy to have taken the time to write these lines.
I also sincerely hope that you will enjoy this instructable and that you will enjoy eating it.
"In cooking, as in all the arts, simplicity is the sign of perfection. » - Maurice Edmond Sailland.
waiting to read you,
Edwin.