Tartest Lemon Tart
Posted by Amy Ruth | Filed under For Friends, Fruit, Tuesdays with Dorie
A Tartest Lemon Tart had to be a refreshing and seasonal choice from Babette of Babette Feasts. One might think of it as kind a passing of the torch from the recent infinity of chocolate to … woo hoo, its fruit season. I can only imagine how she must have “stewed” over Dorie’s many many recipes for the season before finalizing her selection. You might know we wait in a long line for our turn to make a recipe choice. ( There are many bakers in this group.) Some of those choices have been great cause for consternation, swearing, dancing merrily, taking photos of course, stirring, measuring, calculating and recalculating, he he, chilling, heating, freezing, typing and of course eating. Instructions as well as the recipe will be on Babbettes blog. You may also want to drop by your local bookstore for a copy of Baking From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. For more information about joining in on the baking fun drop by Tuesdays With Dorie.
I made this tart a while back upon discovering its reputation on SmittenKitchen. I have to say as I read the varying comments I wasn’t sure how things would go. I used Meyer lemons before and also this time. This was my first experience with them. A much softer, less intense and not so tart lemon. Pretty little things, they are. I have to say it was really a nice and similar to an old southern lemon chess pie recipe I make all the time for my Mom. I love the translation of desserts from Dorie’s home to ours and the connections they often times have to our families.
My crisper drawer had Meyer lemons and regular lemons. They definitely called out so I made two tart shells and set about making Tartest Lemon Tarts. I love lemons. I know everyone asks “Did I say I love lemons?” But really…. I do! So, don’t worry even though I love them, well, Corbin had an Orthodontist appointment on Monday morning. I’m not the patient so its easy for me to say, “It’s fun” however Corbin might not agree. He’s always grumpy for a few days after. They don’t mind if I bring my baking to them and they actually seem to enjoy ???? They’re nice. The Meyer lemons are very small with thin skin. I used two, skin and all, minus the seeds. There is very very little pith in Meyer lemons. Aside from that everything else was according to the written recipe in Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan.
There were good suggestions about handling the pith from the regular lemons in the P & Q section of the TWD site. I considered my options,and decided I didn’t want to risk all my ingredients and time to a possible bitter aftertaste. I used my micro plane to zest my lemons, peeled away the pith, removed the seeds and cut up the 1 1/2 lemons. The unbaked tart filling tasted quite nice so I can’t wait to taste the cooled version. Mmmmm.
Thank you so much for your patience today because my post was an evening edition not an early morning one and for stopping by for a visit. I can’t wait to see all the beautiful Tartest Lemon Tarts out there in the Tuesdays With Dorie baking group. Take a look for yourself. You’ll definitely want to snag a copy of Baking From My Home to Yours for yourself. In the mean time take yourself back to Babette Feasts where you can get the recipe.
May 13th, 2009 at 5:27 am
I hope you enjoyed the outcome!! It looks wonderful.
May 13th, 2009 at 6:36 am
Your tart looks great!
May 13th, 2009 at 6:44 am
Your tart looks great. I kind of overdid the powdered sugar on the piece I photographed. =) I hope you enjoy the way it turned out. Mine had a slightly bitter edge to it, but I don’t mind that–it was still very good.
May 13th, 2009 at 9:23 am
My husband said last night if I make it again, he doesn’t care for the bitter taste in it. It didn’t bother me! So next time I will do as you did and remove the pith and see if that helps. Your photos are fabulous as always!! Thanks for stopping by today. Wish we could have a cup of coffee together and a piece of that tart!!
)
May 13th, 2009 at 9:54 am
So cool that you made two tarts! They look fantastic. My tart wound up really bitter so maybe next time I’ll try Meyer lemons
May 13th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Your tart looks wonderful!
May 13th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Hummm… late, yes… but worth the wait, no?
I’m glad you enjoyed the tart; I say like you… all the better for the use of fruits in this season, not that I dislike chocolate… but it was getting to be too much of a good thing.
Your tart looks totaly refreshing, very lovely, Amy Ruth!
May 13th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Amy Ruth, it looks great! I like your changes and probably would’ve made the same ones.. bitter = no good! I’m so jealous of Corbin, I wish i still had my braces. Unlike normal people, I actually liked them. I have this fear of losing my teeth and braces make me feel more secure..haha
May 13th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Your tart is so pretty AmyRuth! Can’t wait to hear your views on which version was better – Meyer lemons or ordinary lemons?
May 14th, 2009 at 6:24 am
you are so lucky to have meyer lemons! did you do a side-by-side comparison??
May 15th, 2009 at 10:10 am
It looks gorgeous! I wish I could find some Meyer lemons – they would have been great in this tart!
May 16th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
I love the way your tart looks with the powdered sugar on top!
May 16th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
I love your photos of the tart. I put powdered sugar on mine as well.
May 20th, 2009 at 6:27 am
Beautiful tart, Amy! I also love lemons and even though I’m a chocolate maniac, if there’s a lemon dessert on the menu, that’s the one I go for.
May 20th, 2009 at 7:57 am
Tart looks delicious. It was a nice break from chocolate. (And it’s coming up again…..)
May 31st, 2009 at 11:51 am
i’m so bummed i missed out on this one; yours looks fabulous