Recipe: classic lemon tart

I was reminded recently how delicious lemon tart is when a friend asked me to bring one to her party.

Classic lemon tart. Picture: Guy Bailey

I was reminded recently how delicious lemon tart is when a friend asked me to bring one to her party. Handle the pastry as little as possible, and chill it well before cooking.

CLASSIC LEMON TART

250g plain flour

75g icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting

120g chilled unsalted butter, diced

3 egg yolks

2 tablespoons water

For the filling

5 medium-sized organic eggs

150g caster sugar

120ml (½ cup) lemon juice

2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

150ml double cream

For the pastry, put flour, sugar and a pinch of salt in a food processor and pulse briefly. Add butter; pulse until combined. With the motor running, add yolks and water and mix until it just comes together into a dough. Remove, shape into a disc (don’t knead or work it), cover in plastic wrap and chill for an hour, until pliable but not sticky to the touch. Preheat oven to 190°C. Roll out pastry until about 4-5mm thick, and put into a greased 24cm fluted tart tin; trim, leaving about 1cm of pastry above the rim. Refrigerate until cold. Line pastry case with greaseproof paper and baking beans and bake for about 15 minutes, until golden. Remove beans and paper, brush base with egg white and put back in oven for another 8 minutes. Trim pastry to rim. For the filling, put all ingredients into large bowl and whisk until combined. Set it aside to settle for an hour or so in the fridge. Preheat oven again to 140°C. Pour mixture into pastry case, place on a baking tray and bake for 25-35 minutes, or until just set. Remove from oven and leave to cool for at least 1 hour, then chill until needed. Dust with icing sugar to serve. Serves 8