Lemon Tart

Ingredients

• 400 g sweet shortcrust pastry
• 5 lemons — 200 ml juice and the zest of 3
• 6 eggs
• 250 g caster sugar
• 200 ml double cream
• icing sugar, for dusting

Method

1. Line the tin

   Roll the pastry thinly and line a 23 cm tart tin, leaving the excess hanging over the edge. Chill for thirty minutes — cold pastry shrinks far less.

   30 min

2. Blind bake

   Line with paper and baking beans and bake at 180°C for twenty minutes, then remove the beans and bake for another ten until dry and sandy. A soggy base cannot be rescued later.

   30 min

3. Make the filling

   Whisk the eggs and sugar without aerating them, then stir in the lemon juice, zest and cream. Skim off any foam — bubbles bake into a pitted surface.

4. Fill in the oven

   Drop the oven to 140°C, pull the shelf out with the case on it, and pour the filling in there. Carrying a full tart across the kitchen is how it ends up on the floor.

5. Bake gently

   Bake until barely set with a faint wobble across the whole surface. Overbaked lemon tart cracks and turns rubbery.

   35 min

6. Cool and trim

   Cool completely, then saw off the overhanging pastry with a serrated knife for a clean edge. Dust with icing sugar to serve.