Lemon tart recipe. How to Make a French Lemon and Apple Tart

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

France is world famous not only for its wines and cognac, it is deservedly considered a culinary leader. And her gourmet interests include more than frog legs, truffles and onion soup. French pastries are respected by the sweet tooth of all countries. It was thanks to the southern French town of Menton that the lemon tart began its victorious march. This province is known for its lemon gardens, and the city itself is known for its lemon festival, during which citrus fruits are made into sculptures and erected intricate buildings. Since lemon is a very acidic product, you can’t just chew it. So a delicacy was invented, which is now baked everywhere, although they are called differently, including "Pai".

Subtleties of processing lemons

Not everyone knows that the temperature of these citrus fruits greatly affects the quality of products obtained from them. So, if you decide to squeeze juice from lemons, you should get them out of the refrigerator in advance - and you will get more drink, andthe smell will be stronger.

It's another matter if you need zest. From chilled fruits, it is removed more thinly, without dragging the white layer with it. Particles of zest are the same in size, and she herself is more fragrant. So it's better to put the lemon in the refrigerator for an hour (just do not freeze it in any case), and then remove the skin.

It would also be useful to recall that white fibers are bitter, they can spoil the taste of the dish. Therefore, you need to remove the zest carefully and carefully.

What is tart made of

To make the dough, you will need the following products: 200 g flour; 3 large spoons of sugar; half a teaspoon of s alt; 100-120 g (depending on fat content) butter; yolk and 2 tablespoons lemon juice.

At its core, lemon tart has shortcrust pastry. Flour, s alt and sugar are mixed, finely chopped, pre-chilled butter is added. It is necessary to mix all the components to the state of fine crumbs. Having achieved the necessary consistency, egg yolk is introduced into the future delicacy along with lemon juice. Naturally, the juice should be freshly squeezed, and not concentrated, purchased. A real lemon tart can't stand this abuse.

Stir all the ingredients until a homogeneous mass is formed, without lumps and inclusions. If it seems dry, add the juice drop by drop, constantly stirring. When the result satisfies you, take a high form, grease it and put the dough on the bottom, building the sides. Breaks and cracks should be avoided! ATIn principle, this is not difficult - the dough is soft, but if it starts to break, then there is still little juice.

The form is covered with foil (or parchment), on which the load is placed. According to the rules - special balls, but they are easily replaced with a layer of peas or beans, the main thing is that they are poured evenly. The lemon tart should not rise during baking, which lasts 15-20 minutes.

Baking the base

The oven heats up to 220 degrees, and the future dessert is placed there for a quarter of an hour directly with foil and oppression. The hostesses who have de alt with shortcrust pastry know that on the basis of the considered recipe, you can build a lot of all sorts of goodies. And in some cases, pre-baking is not required. For example, if the filling is fruit, dessert can be sent to the oven with them. But traditionally, lemon tart is filled with a rather liquid content, so you still have to bake the base.

When 15 minutes have elapsed, the foil (parchment) with the weight is removed, and the form is returned to the oven for another five minutes to brown the dough.

Traditional filling

French lemon tart involves the use of the mentioned citrus not only for the dough, but also for the filling. Three quarters of a glass of sugar are beaten with three eggs until a white foam forms. Melt 100 g of high-quality butter slowly, stirring constantly (however, you can use the microwave) and, together with half a glass of the same lemon juice, pour into the eggs with sugar. Everything is mixed very carefully. When perfection has been achieved, grated zest is added to the resulting mass.

The mixture is carefully poured into a mold, which is again placed in the oven for a quarter of an hour. The filling turns into a delicate meringue with a lemon smell and taste.

Pure French cream

Naturally, the described way to fill the delicacy is far from the only one. No less popular tart with lemon cream. The base remains the same, but the filling will take longer.

First of all, you need a water bath. Lemon juice, eggs and sugar are combined in a bowl and stirred all the time while the bath is “working”, otherwise the eggs will curl up and you will have to start over. When the contents of the saucepan become thick, the container is removed, and the mixture is filtered (in case of lumps) through a strainer. Butter is put into the hot mass; stir until it dissolves. It remains to add the zest, pour the cream into the base and cover with foil, film or parchment for the cooling time so that a crust does not appear.

Tarte Tatin: delicious with apples too

Apple tart is no less popular in France and other countries. It is notable for the fact that it also includes caramel. True, because of this, it is more difficult to prepare.

Preparing apples is easy: peel, cut out the middle, cut, sprinkle with lemon juice - and aside. Caramel requires attention. Sugar (100 g) is poured into a small bowl or saucepan and, with constant stirring, melts to the color you like. Do not overdo! Burnt caramelonly fit in the trash can. The juice of half a lemon is squeezed into a bowl removed from the fire, everything is stirred and poured into a mold in which the apple tart will be baked. To make it easier to take it out later, the bottom must be covered with parchment. Apples are stuck vertically into the caramel and sprinkled with sugar (ideally brown). If desired, you can also sprinkle with cinnamon. Butter, cut into pieces, is laid out between pieces of fruit.

Upside down tart

This variant of the favorite French delicacy is also interesting because it is done in reverse. That is, the dough is not at the bottom of the mold, but at the top. When the filling is prepared, the same shortbread dough is placed on the mold and tucked under the apples. Baking apple tart will be half an hour or a little more.

The most important step remains: take out the finished dish. This is done gradually: first, the form cools down for 5 minutes in the form in which it was taken out. Then it is covered with a large dish, turned over and stands for another 5 minutes. And only after these manipulations the form is carefully removed.

They say that every housewife cooks borscht in her own way. Note: not only borscht, but also apple tart. The recipe may include caramelizing apples; the dough can be prepared a little differently - someone uses grandmother's secrets or mother's tricks. One thing remains unchanged: it is always baked upside down.

Nice addition

The French call this dessert excess meringues. We are more familiar with the word "meringue", which, by the way, also came fromFrance. So, we offer the hostesses a recipe for a culinary masterpiece called Lemon Meringue Tart.

To a certain point, its preparation is no different from a tart with lemon cream. When the product is baked, it is set aside to cool, and at this time the final touch is being prepared. First, sugar is dissolved in water over low heat. Its amount depends on the number of eggs: 50 g is used for each protein. You can take more, then the foam will be denser, but the meringues themselves will be cloying.

Eggs should be warm so they beat more fluffy. The whites are separated from the yolks. It is necessary to beat long and carefully. When the mass becomes airy, syrup is poured into it in a thin stream; the beating continues. You can only stop when the proteins have cooled.

The resulting meringues are laid out on a cooled lemon tart as artistically as possible: separate turrets, smooth curves, spirals. The dessert decorated in this way is placed in the oven. When the meringue is a nice creamy color, the tart is ready.

Now choose a recipe to your liking and boldly start creating.