Tarte au Citron Meringuée

At 4 o’clock on Sunday morning, I couldn’t go to sleep.  I was in the midst of making puff pastry for the first time, and if everything went as planned, I would be done by seven, and only then would I take a nap.  In the time between turns, I found myself with nothing to do.  I had read all my favourite food blogs, Rachael Ray was on Food TV, and every other station was showing infomercials.  So what else could I do but cook?  Since my fridge was mostly empty except for two lemons, a few eggs, and butter, I decided to try out Maury Rubin’s Manhattan Style Lemon Meringue Tart, essentially a lemon tart topped with a cylindrical dollop of meringue.

I started by making the pate sablée – the delicate, cookie-like pastry that would be used for the crust.  It was actually because of this pastry that I bought Maury Rubin’s Book of Tarts last summer.  In Jeffrey Steingarten’s It Must’ve Been Something I Ate, Steingarten searches New York for the perfect tart pastry, and Rubin’s is one of only two that he finds to be acceptable.  To emphasize his point, Steingarten warns that:

“If a baker, at home or in commerce, cannot make better pastry than Maury’s, he or she should simply follow Maury’s recipe or throw in the towel and find other work.”

Steingarten goes on to recommend the appointment of a “Special Pastry Prosecutor” and a system of graduated fines and short jail sentences to discourage the production of “totally depressing baked goods.”

So obviously, I had to buy this book, and I would highly recommend it if you enjoy making tarts, or if you suspect that your current tart dough may be a catalyst for systemic depression.  The recipes are straightforward and simple, the pictures are award-winning, and everything I’ve tried so far has been wonderful.

While I waited for the tart dough to chill, I made the lemon filling, a mix of lemon zest, lemon juice, eggs, sugar, and butter.  I then made the meringue, baked the shells, added the filling, chilled them, added the meringue cylinder, froze them, swiped them with a blowtorch, and ate one for breakfast.  It was delicious.  The cookie-like crust, combined with the tart and smooth filling and the sweet, light meringue tasted wonderful together.  Simplistic elegance is how I’d describe it.

I also finished making my puff pastry dough.  It’s now sitting in my fridge, and I’m predicting a ‘please try again’ result when I bake it tomorrow, since I didn’t square and line up the edges when making the folds.  Hopefully it will rise, albeit unevenly. 

In any case, I hope everyone is looking forward to SHF 5.  We're now only 11 days away!

Lemon Meringue Tart, Manhattan Style
(adapted from Book of Tarts by Maury Rubin)

Tart Dough - makes eight 4-inch tart shells

Lemon Filling

- Grated zest of 1 lemon
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice, strained
- 4 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 12 tbsps unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

In a medium bowl, combine lemon zest and sugar.  Rub together between your hands until well combined.

In a stainless steel (or non-reactive) saucepan, combine lemon juice, eggs, egg yolk, butter, and lemon-sugar.  Whisk until combined, and heat over medium heat to cook for 3 to 5 minutes, whisking constantly.  Remove the saucepan from heat as soon as it boils.  Strain the mixture into a medium bowl.

Use a ladle to fill the baked tart shells with the lemon mixture.  Chill tarts for 30 minutes or until set.

Meringue

- 6 ring molds, 2 to 3-inches in diameter, 1 to 1½-inches high
- Canola or vegetable oil for the rings
- 3 large egg whites, at room temperature
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- ½ cup granulated sugar

Lightly oil the inside of a 2 or 3-inch ring mold.  Place one mold at the centre of each tart.

Using an electric mixer, whip the egg whites for two minutes on low speed.  Add cream of tartar, and whip on medium speed.  When soft peaks have formed, add the sugar and continue to whip until firm and glossy.

Spoon the meringue evenly into the ring molds.  Dip a spoon into the meringue and quickly remove to create a peak on each tart.  Place tarts in freezer for at least 20 minutes.

Before serving, carefully remove ring molds, and let tarts sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Makes six 4-inch tarts.

Comments

[chika]

Hi Clement,

Beautiful as always... and I have a soft spot for lemon tarts!

The book also sounds good. What else have you tried and found good? (but I shouldn't be buying any more baking book anytime soon...)

[Reid]

Hi Clement,

This looks so wonderful. I like almost anything lemon and this qualifies 100%. I'm just wondering, did you find the flavor of this lemon tart really tart? Sometimes they can be a bit too sweet because of the amount of sugar used.

[Eric]

Don't worry, I'm sure the puff pastry will rise just fine. I found my first time making it a bit of an adventure (and I'd hardly had any of the experience you have with baking) but the end result came out perfectly! Make sure you take heaps of photos to share!

[dexygus]

clement, i must try that recipe. i was at city bakery in manhattan this past fall, and that tart was amazing.

[Clement]

Chika - Happy birthday! In addition to this tart, I’ve tried the Square Pear Peg Tart and the White Chocolate Cream with Raspberry. I also like to substitute the tart pastry into other tart recipes, since it's so easy to make; it can be kneaded without affecting texture, and blind baking doesn't require beans or weights. Many of the recipes in the book are also quite creative.

Reid - I thought the flavour was a good balance between sweet and tart. It's similar in taste to Thomas Keller's lemon sabayon, although I think this one might be creamier, and Keller's is lighter since it's whipped. The meringue also adds extra sweetness to balance the tart filling.

Eric - Thanks. It did come out okay, although the inside was a bit too moist. I'll have to play around with the time and temperature tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I still have 10 more days to figure it out :)

Dexygus - I wish I could go to City Bakery so I could taste all their tarts, and decide which ones I want to make. I'll post the recipe for this one later today.

[nonchann]

Hi Clement,

excellent photography...may i know what camera are using to take your food pictures?

[Clement]

Thanks Nonchann - I currently use a Canon S230 point and shoot digital camera. If you're interested, here's a description of my setup.

[nonchann]

wow..that's pretty amazing!really awesome work...my sis has a food blog too.It's at www.taott.ipadder.com. do drop by sometime and have a look! Cheers.

[renne]

Clement, those fabulous lemon tarts one dreams about can be found at a Bloor West Village restaurant, in Toronto, called Lemon Meringue!

[Clement]

Nonchann - Thanks, your sister certainly has a nice site, and the most unusual wallpaper I've ever seen!

Renne - Thanks for the tip; I'll make to check it out sometime.