Extreme Domesticity

Okay guys, I did something really domestic the other day. I made a tart, specifically for dessert. Like, as part of complete meal. For some reason I see this as very domestic--which I'm pretty okay with, actually. This was the topper for the feast Josh and I made. I used this amazing recipe for a whole lemon tart from smitten kitchen, and it turned out really well! I cheated and used a frozen roll-out Pillsbury pie crust instead of the Unshrinkable Tart Shell recommended by smitten kitchen, but it worked out ok. It did shrink a little, but we had a little less filling (because I used less sugar) so it wasn't too much of a problem.

First, put one of your oven racks in the center of the oven and pre-heat to 325. Temperature is important here so don't mess up! :)



So here's me, mixing up the ingredients in my little food processor.

Mix together:
1 average-sized lemon. This should be a Meyer lemon because they are sweeter than normal lemons. Otherwise, compensate with more sugar. You want to slice this into thin strips, remove the seeds and throw the whole thing into the food processor. That's why this is called a "Whole Lemon Tart." Meyers can be hard to find outside of California (sorry ladies, just move here already!!) but you might get lucky. I got one in my CSA when I made this so it was EXTRA good.
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) sugar. I actually used just a cup b/c I'm not big on the sweets.
You'll want to mix the above two ingredients together until thoroughly blended, then add the rest of the ingredients.
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/2 tablespoons (12 grams) cornstarch
1 stick (4 ounces; 115 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled. I also only used half a stick of butter, but we ended up with less filling so it might be worth it to go the whole 4 ounces.

Eventually, it will look like this:




Then, pour the filling into the tart shell. So as I mentioned above, I used a frozen roll-out pie crust from Pillsbury because I didn't have time/was too lazy to make the "Great Unshrinkable Crust" smitten kitchen recommends (I keep wanting to type "smitten kitten"... adorable), and it worked pretty well. Just plop the crust into the tart pan and fold the excess crust back in over the edges so the edges are a little thicker.




Since this is NOT a great unshrinkable crust, it will shrink, so it's important that you leave some space (at least 1/4 inch) between filling and crust-edge.

Then pop it in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Increase the heat to 350 and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the top of the tart starts browning and looking dang delicious. Take it out of the oven and let it cool for at least 20 minutes, then devour with all possible rapidity.




It's amazing! And seriously, so easy. Try it! I hope that makes up a little bit for my lengthy absence. I promise I will try to be better from now on!