Chef Jonathan’s Lemon Tart

Chef Jonathan tells us that in all his years of working in five-star hotels and resorts, this was the number one requested dessert and he’s delighted to share his recipe with us. This recipe serves 10-12 people.

Ingredients:

For the tart shell:

350 g flour

A pinch salt

175g unsalted cold butter cut into cubes

100g icing sugar

3 egg yolks

For the filling:

6 eggs

270g sugar

Zest of 4 lemons

190ml lemon juice

190ml cream

Method:

For the sweet pastry, pulse the flour, salt and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, then the egg yolks and pulse. The mixture will immediately combine and should fall from the sides of the bowl. Remove, wrap in the cling film and chill for at least an hour. Pre-heat the oven to 350F.

Coarsely grate the pastry into a 30cm loose bottom fluted flan tin, and then press it evenly on to the sides and middle. Bake blind (without the filling) for 20 minutes until very light brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Filling:

• Finely grate lemons for the zest
• In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and sugar until the sugar starts to dissolve
• Add cream and lemon zest to the egg and sugar mixture to form a custard
• Add lemon juice and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes
• Skim foam from the top of the custard
• Gently stir while pouring into the cooked tart base
• Bake at 350F until almost set
• Remove tart from the oven while it remains slightly unset in the centre

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