LAVENDER-HONEY LEMON TART

Filled with zingy lemon curd, this tart has a clever crust shortcut – no rolling needed!

Preparation time 20 mins plus 4 hours 20 mins chilling Cooking time 1 hour

Serves 8

1 cup plain flour

1/4 cup pure icing sugar, si ed

1/4 tsp fine salt

125g unsalted buer, melted, plus extra 30g, chopped

3/4 cup honey

3 Tbsp food-grade dried lavender buds 1 tsp powdered gelatine

4 large free-range eggs

3/4 cup caster sugar

2 tsp lemon zest and / cup juice Whipped cream and Candied lemons

(recipe below right), to serve

STEP 1 Combine flour, icing sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Stir in melted buer until dough comes together. Press dough evenly into base and up sides of a 35.5cm rectangular or 23cm round tart tin with removable base. Chill dough for 20 minutes, or until firm.

STEP 2 Preheat oven to 160°C fan-forced (180°C conventional). Prick dough boom all over with a fork. Line with baking paper, add uncooked rice or baking beans and bake for 20 minutes. Discard paper and rice/beans and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more, or until golden. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

STEP 3 Put honey and lavender buds in a small saucepan over medium heat until simmering. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stand for 15 minutes. Pour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a jug and discard lavender. Reserve Œ/Ž cup for Candied lemons. Set remainder aside.

STEP 4 Sprinkle gelatine over 4 tsp cold water in a small bowl and set aside.

STEP 5 Whisk eggs, caster sugar and zest in a saucepan. Whisk in juice. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, for 6-8 minutes, until thick and creamy (curd will coat back of a spoon; a streak will show if you run your finger across it.)

STEP 6 Remove from heat and stir in chopped buer until it melts into curd. Stir in gelatine mixture until combined. Pour curd into cooled crust. Refrigerate tart for 4 hours, or until completely set.

STEP 7 Top tart with whipped cream and Candied lemons, then drizzle with remaining lavender honey. Serve.

CANDIED †LEMONS†

Preheat oven to 120°C fan-forced (140°C conventional). Thinly slice a small lemon. In a large frying pan, heat Œ/Ž cup lavender honey (see Step 3, above) and Œ/Ž cup water just to boiling, stirring to dissolve honey. Add lemon and remove from heat. Stand for 10 minutes. Drain. Put slices in a single layer on baking paper-lined oven tray. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until lightly browned, turning halfway through. Cool completely.

Simmered in lavender-honey syrup, then baked until crisp, these candied lemon slices taste like lemon drops.

Take your lemon tart to new heights with a drizzle of lavender -infused honey and candied lemon slices. The stir-together crust has only four ingredients and requires no rolling.