The Favorite Lemon Tart

It's been called a lemon tart and a lemon pie, it is by far the most requested recipe or the most requested dessert that I get. 
I've made this version of lemon tart for over ten years.  I've made it into a large 10 inch tart. I've made it into small bite size tarts.  I've made it into a 4 inch individual tart.  I've topped it with blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries or combinations.  

The base of the tart is basically a sugar cookie crust.  Again, I've tried it with different crusts and I always come back to the sugar cookie crust or as the French would call it pate sucree.  The sweet and sandy texture counters nicely the smooth tart curd.

Now the pastry arts are my passion but I am not a fan of making tart/pie dough.  I find my desire and obsession to perfect it even before baking causes a lot of stress and mental anxiety.  I've really had some melt downs making the crust.  I admit it.  :-) Don't even get me started about blind baking.  Well, this year, I've found the perfect, easiest recipe and technique for making this sugar crust dough.  It comes from Alice Medrich's Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts cookbook.  Thank you Alice!  Here it is. 

Tart Crust
5 oz or 10 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 1/4 cup of flour
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

Heat oven to 350 degrees
Combine butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl.  
Mix the flour and baking powder together thoroughly, add the butter mixture , and mix just until well blended.  
If the dough seems too soft and gooey, let it stand for a few minutes to firm up.
Using a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom or four 4 inch smaller tart pans, press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the tart pans to make a thin, even layer.
Put the pan on a baking sheet. 
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is fully golden brown all over.  The dough will puff up.
Take it out of the oven and using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, press down on the dough firmly to remove the puffins and shape the tart back to it's original form.  Let it cool completely. It will be much easier to handle cooled.

It always amazes me that this luscious curd is basically, lemons, butter, egg, and sugar.  

This is Ina Garten's ratio of the ingredients, but I've tweaked and simplified the recipe.  You don't need fancy equipment, and you only need one pot.  I find that when you use a food processor, unless you have a very fine mesh, the lemon peel  falls through and adds a undesired texture to the curd.

It's also easy to remember this recipe because there are a lot of four or 4s.

Lemon Curd
4 organic lemons
1.5 cup of sugar
4 oz or 1 stick of butter soften and cut into dice pieces
4 organic eggs
1/4 tsp of salt

Using a vegetable peeler, peel all the lemon zest into strips.  Cut the strips into quarter inch pieces. 
Cut the lemons in half and squeeze all the juice to make about 1/2 cup of lemon juice.  Strain out all the seeds and pulp.  Set aside.
In a 2 quart sauce plan, place the sugar and the lemon zest.  Using a wood spoon, pound the lemon zest into the sugar, stir and keep blending the lemon zest into the sugar.  You are trying to release the lemon oils and flavor into the sugar.  The sugar will be a bit dingy yellow and lemony fragrant.
Add the butter pieces into the sugar mixture and cream until fully combined.
Add one egg at a time until fully incorporated, repeat the next egg until all 4 are fully mixed in.
Stir in the lemon juice.
Put the sauce plan over medium heat for about 10 min and cook the mixture until thick or until it reaches 175 degrees. Stir continuously so that the egg does cook to the side or bottom of the pan.  
Immediately poor over a strainer and set side until cooled.
Spoon the lemon curd into the tart crust until it's slightly less than the tart's rim.  
Top it with your favorite berries.  Serve immediately or place covered in the refrigerator.  

This tart is for lemon lovers! Definitely!

Lemon Tarts

I've been making the same lemon tart for years, mini ones, large ones, and all kinds but lately, I've been trying different recipes and toppings... and for some reason just not much success as before.

The one above is beautiful but it was too overloaded.  It was brought to a dinner at my friend Kris house for a loverly Italian dinner she prepared.  I was sad my dessert didn't quite meet it.

I also made one with brown sugar and figs for my lemon lover friends Mike and Bia, and even they said they preferred old one with blueberries.

I'll have to work on it a bit and will wait to post recipe until perfected.

Strawberry Lemon Thyme Trifle

It all started with madelines gone bad.  Last week I was trying to make some nice madelines for Vicky's birthday bash but it was a new recipe and I overfilled the tins, which resulted in a square lumps of cakes vs. the nice scallop shapes.  It tasted wonderful so I saved them to make a trifle.

I decided to make it for my brother's birthday BBQ.  The madelines were made with lemon thyme herb so playing off this flavor profile, I thought strawberries and lemon would be good.


There were four components which were lemon curd, fresh whipped cream, macerated strawberries, and the madelines torn into pieces.

I added more of the fresh lemon thyme to the strawberries.  This herb is so good.  I think better in sweet dishes then savory.

I layered each components starting and ending with the whipped cream.

It was good.  A nice combo of sweet, tart, and the freshness.  

Lemon Shaker Pie

Have you had this pie before?  It's the only pie that uses the whole lemon.  It's sweet, tart, lemony, has a bit of texture, and has to have a good flaky sweet tart.  It's yummy.

I had made this pie as something different for our Thanksgiving dinner last year.  We also had our friend Mike and Bia join us for that Thanksgiving and he loves everything lemon.  

It is said this pie was invented in the 1800s from a religious group called the Shakers.  They were being frugal and wanted to use the whole lemon and thus this pie was started.  

There are lot of different but very similar versions of this recipe. I've only tried the Saveur version listed below. I used meyer lemons but would like try with regular. I liked this one but I could have sliced the lemon even more paper thin and prob soak it longer to break down more. Otherwise...it's lovely!

Filling:

2 large lemons 

2 cups sugar 

1/4 tsp. salt 

4 eggs 

4 tbsp. butter, melted 

3 tbsp. all-purpose flour 

Crust:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 

1 tsp. salt 

10 tbsp. cold butter, cut into pieces 

2 tbsp. vegetable shortening 

1. For the filling: Thoroughly wash lemons, then dry with paper towel. Finely grate lemon zest into a bowl. Using a 

mandoline or a sharp knife, slice lemons very thin; remove and discard seeds. Add slices to zest and toss with sugar and 

salt. Cover and set aside at room temperature for 24 hours. 

2. For the crust: Sift flour and salt together into a large mixing bowl. Use a pastry cutter or 2 table knives to work butter 

and shortening into flour until it resembles coarse meal.Sprinkle in up to 5 tbsp. ice water, stirring dough with a fork until 

it just begins to hold together. Press dough firmly into a rough ball, then transfer to a lightly floured surface. Give the 

dough several kneads with the heel of your hand to form it into a smooth ball. Divide dough into 2 balls, wrap in plastic, 

and refrigerate for 1 hour. 

3. Preheat oven to 425°. Whisk eggs in bowl until frothy. Add butter and flour, whisking until smooth. Stir into lemon 

mixture. 

4. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into two 12" rounds. Fit one round into a 9" pie plate and pour in filling. 

Cover pie with remaining pastry round. Fold edges of dough under, then crimp edges. Cut steam vents in top crust. Bake 

until edges begin to brown, about 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° and bake until crust is golden brown, 25–30 minutes 

more. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Baby Shower Sweets

Some new friends asked me to make some sweets for their baby shower.  They tasted my Red Velvet Cupcakes at Hamed's New Year's eve party and really liked them.  Nothing makes me feel so happy then when someone asks you to make something for their special occasion.  It's an honor.  Hope they liked them.  Let me know if you want any recipes.

These are all mini version.  One or two bites at the most.

Red Velvet Cupcake

Lemon Blueberry Tart

Chocolate Rum Tart

Bouchon Bakery in Napa

Here is my second visit to Bouchon Bakery.  This time to the original one in Napa Valley.  

The store has amazing stuff.  The lines were a block long.  Everything was perfect, perfect town, perfect neighborhood bakery, almost too perfect baked goods, almost like Stepford wives town perfect.  The first time I visited Bouchon Bakery in NYC, I thought it was lovely but deep down I felt something was a bit not real.  I figured it's the NYC version, in a big upper crust mall.  When I first read about it Bouchon Bakery, I wanted the small town, neighborly spot feel.  The NYC one was a bit too commercial perfect, so when I saw the outside store front, I was super excited to be at the one in Napa.  

The Napa store did have a charming, old time bakery feel.  However, some of the baked goods were exactly the same as the one in NYC.  Especially the patisseries goods, and I'm sure they are the same ones in Las Vegas.  I realized that they prob don't make or bake the sweet pastries in the local stores but rather in some big factory.  The chocolate tarts were too perfect.  No hands can cut that perfect for all of them.  Same goes for the macrons, and eclairs. This is where my slight disappoint comes from.  I some how wanted to think, it was all made by hand and local.  Perhaps it is but somehow I doubt.  You see, I love neighborhood bakeries.  The one of a kind that bakes everything in house,  and reflects the personality of the things in the neighborhood.

They do bake stuff in house but I think it's just the breads and morning pastries which were good.  They had sandwiches to homemade chips.  Good stuff but still a bit too commercialized. It was a tourist destination and the lines reflected that.  Not the lines of local bakery but the lines to see Thomas Keller stuff.  I was one of them.  I'm good on Bouchon Bakery.  I still love Thomas Keller, now I just see the business side of it.

Here are some of the goods...

A peanut butter cup...again too perfect

The too perfect lemon tart

Fresh baked goods of scones, almond croissant, buns, and more.

Tuna sandwich.  This was nice, with the nice details of super thin red onion, kalamative onions.  They also sold homemade potato chips.  This is the local stuff I'm talking about.  Loved it.

The macrons were a bit larger than others you see, about 3 inches wide, but at $3 bucks each, I guess they had to be bigger.  I love the ones at Honore more but these were good.

Lastly, the eclairs... they were close to the ones from Le Panier.  Very good and phallic.  :)

Cranberry Lemon Tart

Last week, my good friend Kim invited me to a fabulous dinner at her house.  I said I would bring dessert and asked her what can I bring?  She said her family loves a good deep dish cherry pie.  I was gung ho about this because I've not yet made a cherry pie before. Well, cherries are out of season and I couldn't even find frozen cherries thus I had to get creative.  I wanted to deliver a dessert that gave similar flavors and visuals.  


So I came up with a lemon tart that would give the similar tartness of a cherry pie with a good sweet sugary shell.  I topped it with a cranberry compote to mimic the bright red cherries.

The idea was good but my execution of it was so-so.  For my lemon tarts, I like a sweet sable cookie like crust but I wanted to balance a little nuttiness so added some chopped pecan to the dough. I usually don't put egg in my sweet pastry shells but this time, I thought the pecans could use something to help bind so added 1 egg.  I think this was my downfall.  The end product crust was too hard.  It didn't crumble but had to press hard to break it.  I think I over baked it a bit too.

The cranberry compote was also too thin and runny and didn't set properly so it ran down the tart and the lemon curd showed up though.  I needed to use more corn starch or use gelatin next time.

This was a tried dessert.  I promised to document all my good and bad...so this is a lesson learn.  Will repost when I get it right.


The good thing is that Kim and her family loved the dessert and gave great compliments but I need to perfect the recipe and redo to the way it should have been.


Kim made a fabulous dinner of halibut with a nice pecan crust, roasted pepper & potato side, grilled asparagus, nice fall salad with more pecans and pears.  Yummy it was.


Now off to start my Thanksgiving cooking...stay tuned.

Tartine Bakery

I had a business trip to SF and thus had to stop by and discover Tartine Bakery.  I bought their cookbook about a year ago and only tried making a few items.  They are all over the best bakery in the US list, TV shows, and the food mags.  I heard their croissant were one of the best. 


So as I got to the bakery, there was already a line out the door on a Monday early evening.  The place was really urban, rustic, and very neighborhood.  Their cases were filled with beautiful cakes, coconut, bavarian, double chocolate, and many more.  Many that I had seen pictures and recipes of in their cookbook.  Their baked goods really had style.  I would say, one of the fashionistas of the bakery world.  Modern but rustic at the same time, without the pretentiousness. 


I was super excited to try and picked up a few items...croissant, lemon cream tart, chocolate eclairs.  I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. 


The Croissants
These weren't all that for me.  It looked rustic, flaky, and amazing but it was more bready and not as buttery as I had hoped.  My favorite is still from Besaulu in Ballard.  Don't get me wrong, they looked amazing but it wasn't great alone. I craved some butter and jam, which I don't with Besalu's.  The crust wasn't crispy flaky and the middle was the freshly, soft, pully middle.

The Lemon Cream Tart
These looked so beautiful.  I've not come across anyone else doing a cream version of the lemon tart.  Again, super excited to try because I wanted to make this recipe but didn't get a chance.  Well...it was too "eggy" for me.  The texture of the lemon cream was silky and the pastry was perfect, but the egginess told me that it wasn't as fresh.  The whipped cream topping was not sweeten..it seams. 

The Chocolate Eclair
This was the only one that lived up to the hype. Wow!  Best eclair I've had.  The pastry cream filling was amazing, with perfect silky texture with true vanilla flavors.  You can see the vanilla beans.  They use Valrhona chocolate for the glaze and you can tell.  It was a nice deep, woodsy chocolate flavors that balanced well with the custard and the pastry.  

They are more expensive than any other bakeries I've been to.  Eclair alone was 4.95.  Maybe it's the prices in this market.  It didn't seem to keep the crowds away.  I do hope to have similar atmosphere and food style when I open my own bakery.  


Maybe next time I come to visit, I'll have to try again, maybe freshly baked item in the morning.

Dinner at My Chef Friend's

Today, I had lunch with my chef friend Hamed.  He is the one that is classically trained from FCI, the school in NYC that I had checked out and wanted to go for so bad but couldn't get the timing right.


We had lunch at Matt's at the Market.  Great place with really flavorful food. I was bummed they didn't have the Grilled Cheese Sandwich nor the Tomato Soup, but they reminded me they cook seasonally so they don't have it on the menu, and that it may comeback in the fall.   It makes sense and why they are so good.  I had a Grilled Halibut Sandwich and Hamed had a sandwich of the day which I think was some kind of grilled meat.  We then went to Le Panier for the best Eclairs ever.  The espresso ones are the best.  He told me just the day before, him and his wife Pascale got 16 of them and ate them all.  Crazy!


Anyways, it reminded me a fabulous dinner that they had me and some other friends over for a couple months ago.  His food seem simple but the flavors are amazing and all technically correct.  Everything is always cooked perfectly and presented so well.  Here are some pics below.

Hamed the Chef

These are little Tartines he served first with wine.  This one was carmalized onions and some sort of cheese.

These were made with salted zucchinis and goat cheese and were not cooked at all.  There is a lot of curing vs. cooking these days in the food world.  All the pickling popularity from David Chang's stuff.  This one was delish!

First course was a Red Lentil Soup.  He made this one vegetarian and with water because of me and my sis but it was so good, I couldn't believe he didn't use sort of stock.

Main course was Black Cod flavored with lemon and some spices.  Simple but so good.

The sides were some Glazed Carrots and Boiled Potatoes.  Again, so good!  Carrots weren't too sugary like many glazed carrots and simple boiling of potatoes had that nice "puffy" texture.  

Now, this was Hamed specialty.  It was a Peanut Sauce made with peanut butter, onions, and some spice. It was very spicy.  I've never tasted anything like this.  We ate it like a condiment for the fish and sides.   I need to get the recipe for this and post here.  He really should bottle this stuff.

Update: Hamed gave me the recipe. Yay.  So I had it wrong, this is not the Peanut Sauce.  This is the Onion Peanut Butter Salad.  He did serve the peanut sauce at another time and that looked more like a jar of mustard.  I know, it sounds strange but it's not.  Here are recipes. He didn't give me portions.  :)  But I'm going to take the recipe I can get.  I'll give it a try and take down measurements and repost later.

Onion Peanut Butter Salad

Onions

Peanut Butter

Lemon

Olive Oil

Salt

You slice the onion and let it for a few hours in a salted water, take all the access water out.

Mix with peanut butter, lemon, little olive oil and season.

Peanut Sauce

Hot Green Chili

Peanut Butter

Tomatoes

Garlic

Lemon Juice

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper,

Blend everything together and there you have it.  :)

This is what it looked like on our plates.

I made desserts of an Apple Spice Cake and Lemon Tart.

Here is the dinner gang.  Soung, Pascale, Marisela, Hamed, Dan, and me.  Good times!