TWD: Decadent Lemony Goodness

This dessert should be declared illegal. That’s all there is to it. And, not only that, one week shy of ‘my turn,’ I was trumped!! On the bright side, at least I finally got the chance to make this scrumptious filling, one that I’ve been drooling over since I bought the book. (Hey, I don’t rush into things…..)

Thanks to Mary from Starting from Scratch, this week’s TWD project was The Most Extraordinary Lemon Cream Tart.

Basically, you make a lemon curd but with a twist, so it comes out light, creamy, and heavenly. Among the TWD bakers, though, were issues regarding the cooking temperature and thickness of the lemon filling. Many people could not get the filling to reach the recommended temperature of 180 F, and some had a runny rather than thick filling. There could be any number of reasons for these issues, but the primary one seems to be whether a metal or glass bowl was used in the preparation. For me, it took only 7 minutes to cook the curd and reach the final temperature. I used a stainless steel bowl, a gas cooktop, and a reliable thermometer. Prepared to wait 10-15 minutes for thickening to occur, I dozed while I whisked, only to be startled awake at the 6 minute mark by quickly-thickening curd. Yikes.

The next step in the preparation was to add in the butter to the warm filling, using a blender (preferred) or food processor. OK, first time through I’ll use the recommended utensil, the blender. This lemony goodness was so thick that the blender just sat there whirring. It worked, but for science’s sake, I will use the processor next time and then compare results.

The filling rested in the refrigerator overnight. The following morning I made the crust, choosing to make individual tarts rather than one large one. The most difficult part of this whole adventure was being patient and waiting for the crust to chill, bake, and cool.

Finally, the time had come to assemble the little guys. Whisking the chilled filling made it velvety smooth and just perfect for the tarts.

As I said at the beginning, this dessert should be illegal, it is that good.

Check out the renditions from all the other TWD bakers. You can find the recipe at Serious Eats, thanks to Dorie.