Lemon curd and strawberry tart
About 1 ½ hours. Serves 6 to 8.
CRUST
1 egg yolk 1 to 2 tablespoons ice-cold water, divided 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling 2 tablespoons almond meal or finely-ground almonds 3 tablespoons granulated sugar ¼ teaspoon kosher salt ½ cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes
1. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, 1 tablespoon of the ice-cold water and the vanilla.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, almond meal, granulated sugar and salt, and pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is reduced to the size of peas, about 10 pulses. Add the egg yolk mixture and pulse until combined, 10 to 15 pulses. If the dough is still dry and doesn’t stick together when pinched with your fingers, add the remaining 1 tablespoon water and pulse it in.
3. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and pat it into a rectangle. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.
4. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.
5. Roll out the dough between 2 well-floured sheets of parchment or wax paper to a rectangle that is about
1 ⁄8 inch thick and extends about two inches beyond the dimensions of your tart pan. (Test Kitchen note: We used a 13-inch by 4-inch by 1-inch tart pan and rolled the dough to a little more than 6 inches by 15 inches.) Carefully transfer the dough to the tart pan, trim the edges and prick with a fork. Freeze the pan for 10 minutes.
6. Top the tart dough with aluminum foil and weight with pie weights. Bake the tart shell until it is set,15 to 18 minutes, then carefully remove the foil and pie weights and continue to bake until the crust is golden-brown, another 5 minutes or so. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
7. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
LEMON CURD FILLING
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter, cubed 1 tablespoon lemon zest 1 cup fresh lemon juice ¼ cup honey ½ cup granulated sugar 4 eggs 2 egg yolks Pinch of kosher salt Prepared tart shell
1. Fill a large bowl with ice and water to form an ice bath. Place the butter in a fine-mesh strainer set over a medium bowl, and place the medium bowl in the larger ice bath.
2. In a nonreactive saucepan, whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, granulated sugar, eggs, egg yolks and salt. Place the pan over medium heat and gently cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture is very thick, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour the hot curd over the butter, passing all of the curd and butter through the strainer. Stir to combine and cool the curd. This makes about 2 ½ cups of curd.
3. Pour the lemon curd into the prepared tart shell, smoothing the surface so it’s even. You may not use all of the lemon curd, depending on the size and depth of your tart pan. Bake until barely set and the center jiggles slightly, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely. You could also refrigerate the tart for 1 ½ hours after removing it from the oven to cool it more quickly.
TOPPING
2 cups heavy cream ¾ cup powdered sugar Cooled filled tart shell Strawberries
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whip the cream with the powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Spread the whipped cream over the top of the tart, leaving parts of the lemon curd showing. Scatter with strawberries and serve.
Note: Adapted from a recipe in “What’s Gaby Cooking: Everyday California Food” by Gaby Dalkin.