RECIPE: THE LEMON TART

As you know, we love citrus fruits at Vignamaggio and so our chef Cristina decided to make us an exquisite lemon tart.

Lemon tart is light, with a refreshing flavor perfect for springtime.  The shortcrust dough for the sablé pastry case is skillfully worked to achieve its light and flaky consistency.

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

for the pastry

• 250 g cake flour
• 150 g butter
• 80 g icing sugar
• 1 pinch of fine salt
• 3 egg yolks
• the zest from 1 lemon

for the lemon cream

• 350 ml fresh full cream milk
• 50 ml fresh cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• the zest from 2 lemons
• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 150 g sugar
• 25 g maizena
• 1 pinch of fine salt
• 1 knob of butter

WHAT TO DO

For the pastry

1. Place the flour and softened butter in the bowl of the food mixer and mix to obtain a fine breadcrumb texture.
2. Add the grated lemon rind, egg yolks, salt and icing sugar and mix to form a ball. Wrap the mixture in cling film and leave it to rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

For the lemon cream

1. Place the milk and cream in a pot, add the grated lemon rind and vanilla extract. While you bring this slowly to just before the boil, cream the eggs, sugar and maizena until the mixture is pale and fluffy.
2. Once the milk and cream are hot (not boiling!), add the creamed mixture and the eggs and heat the mixture again while stirring briskly with a whisk until you obtain a smooth, velvety, firm cream. (the consistency is up to you)
3. Add the knob of butter and pinch of salt, mix well, cover with cling wrap and leave to cool completely.

Assembly and baking

1. Butter and flour a 24cm tart pan with a removable bottom. Remove the pastry ball from the fridge and allow it to regain its elasticity by kneading it a little. Roll the pastry to a thickness of about 5mm and line the tart pan. Press it into the pan with your fingers and cut off the excess pastry by rolling the rolling pin over the top edges of the pan.
2. Prick the pastry base with a fork, pour in the lemon cream and cover the tart with a lattice made from strips rolled out from the excess pastry.
3. Place the tart in the fridge while the oven heats to 180° on the fan setting. Bake for about 30 – 35 minutes, until golden.
4. Remove the tart from the oven and leave it to cool before removing it from the pan. Serve with icing sugar.

THE WINE

We suggest to pair the lemon tart with a glass of our Albaluce Rosé. 

Have you tasted our lemon tart or do you have your own version of this recipe? Let us know what you think of it and if you liked it.