Tuesday, April 8, 2008

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.

25 comments:

Engineer Baker said...

Oh so pretty! I love the swirl of lemon cream in the tart!

Mary Ann said...

I love the pic that displays how thick the cream is! Delicious!

Marie Rayner said...

Mmm..your tart looks delish! I love the colour of the pansy against it. Pansies are my favourite flowers!

LyB said...

Beautiful! I just love the way you swirled the filling in the crust. And I totally agree, let's have this dessert declared illegal! ;)

ostwestwind said...

Your's look so lovely!
Ulrike from Küchenlatein

Shari@Whisk: a food blog said...

That's so pretty with the flower, and your lemon filling looks perfectly piped in the shell. Wonderful.

Anonymous said...

Your tart looks just delicious!

Mary said...

wonderful tart! by the way, I am SO excited about marshmallows....I needed an excuse to make them again after my overdose before Christmas!

Judy said...

Thanks so much for your lovely comments. I'm off to my regular Tuesday meeting, so I'll check the other TWD bakers out later today. :)

Anonymous said...

Illegal, yes. But that last photo is calendar-worthy. Don't make me hate you. ;)

CRS said...

Wow, what a beautiful presentation with that swirly doo dad!

Annemarie said...

Mmmmmmm! Looks yummy!

Anonymous said...

The exact same thing happened to me - metal bowl, glass stove, reliable thermometer, my creme was done in 7 minutes, and we just loved the tart!

Mari said...

I totally agree about making this dessert illegal, it's just two darn good!

Lori said...

Yum. Looks so pretty and inviting. I like the flower on there too, nice touch. Cant wait to be a part of the Tuesdays with Dorie club and make Marshmellows next week.

Heather B said...

Lovely swirl! It looks so tasty! Great job on your tart!

mimi said...

what a beautiful tart, love the swirly creaminess! glad to hear your's came out so thick, i'm jealous of that upside down spoon!

Anonymous said...

Love your swirly whirly tart! Looks so nice and thick too. I'm definitely making it again!

Dolores said...

Between this and the daring baker cake, the rate at which this group's going through butter ought to be illegal. :) It does make for a decadent dessert though, doesn't it?

I love the way you've plated your mini tarts... the pansy sets the luscious lemon cream off perfectly.

CB said...

Swirly lemon cream is so purdy! Great job!
Clara @ I♥food4thought

Anonymous said...

That cream ~ WOW!
... and what a pretty photo of your finished tart!

Melissa said...

Sorry you were "trumped." How'd you get your swirl so perfect?

Gretchen Noelle said...

What a beautiful swirl in the way you made the tarts. They look just perfect!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, your tart looks delicious! My cream didn't thicken - my thermometre's battery didn't work and so I released the bowl to quickly form the bain marie.

Jhianna said...

Nice picture, specially the one with the flower! Love the swirl :)