TARTE AU CITRON: LEMON TART

It's hard to believe in Arizona we will be experiencing our first 90 degree day this weekend, (Yes, this is our spring!) Aaah, spring ... a time for sunny days, budding flowers, humming birds and, in our house, all things lemons. 

While I do make savory dishes with lemons, I do prefer baking lemon bundt cakes, and especially lemon tarts. I always bake at least one this time of year.

This tart by David Lebovitz is one of my favorites. A smooth, lemony filling in a sweet, buttery tart shell ... perfection. 

TARTE AU CITRON: LEMON TART adapted from David Lebovitz.

Make in a 9-inch or 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom

Ingredients

A pre-baked tart shell, cooled

Filling

1/2 to 2/3 cup superfine granulated sugar (adjust sugar if using meyer lemon)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits

4 large eggs

4 large egg yolks

1 cup fresh lemon juice 

grated zest of one lemon

Optional topping

1 cup sweetened whipped cream or creme fraiche.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, with a rack in the lower third of the oven.

In a medium-sized saucepan, heat the lemon juice, zest, and sugar. Have a mesh strainer nearby.

In a small bowl, beat together the eggs and the yolks.

When the butter is melted, whisk some of the warm lemon mixture into the eggs, stirring constantly, to warm them. Scrape the warmed eggs back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and almost begins to bubble around the edges and coats a heat proof spatula.

Pour the lemon curd though a strainer directly into the pre-baked tart shell, scraping with a rubber spatula to press it through. Smooth the top of the tart and pop it in the oven for five minutes, just to set the curd.(jiggle the pan; the lemon mixture should barely move)

Remove to a rack to cool completely, then refrigerate, until well chilled or overnight.

Serve it with whipped cream, creme fraiche, or fresh berries. You'll wish you had made two!

Lemon Bundt Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

The weather in Arizona has been quite lovely these past few days. It feels as if our short spring is right around the corner. And nothing says spring like lemons! Lemon bundt cake, that is.

Ingredients:

Cake
1 1/4 cups flour,  sifted
1 1/4 cups cake flour, sifted
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tbs. lemon zest
3 tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 tbs. vanilla extract
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar (adjust according to taste)
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup milk – milk plus 1 tbs. lemon juice (or buttermilk)

Lemon syrup:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 tbsp. lemon juice (add more or less depending how tart the lemons are)
1 1/2 cups sifted confectioner’s sugar (adjust according to taste)

Preheat Oven 350 degrees. Generously coat a Bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray and dust the pan with all-purpose flour. Sift the all-purpose flour, and cake flour into a medium bowl, along with the baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle gently beat lemon juice, lemon zest, vegetable oil, milk and sugar; adding the eggs 1 at a time. Reduce the speed to low and slowly add to the dry ingredients, be careful not to over beat. Scrape down the side of the bowl and fold the batter until it is blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and use a spatula to smooth the surface. Tap pan on the counter to help remove any air. Bake in the middle of the oven for about 35 - 40 minutes or until the toothpick test comes out clean, rotating the pan halfway through. Let the cake cool on a rack for 30 minutes.

While the cake is baking in a small saucepan, combine the sugar with the lemon juice and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes. Let the lemon syrup cool slightly.

Invert the cake onto a wire rack set over a baking sheet. Using a wooden skewer, poke holes evenly all over the cake and brush with the lemon syrup. Let the cake cool completely. Alternatively, I have also used a plastic knife to loosen the cake from the pan and poured syrup over the cake while it is still in pan. Once cake has cooled completely, I inverted the cake directly onto my cake platter.

To make the cream cheese frosting, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Mix in the lemon juice, and then gradually stir in the powdered sugar. Frost cake just before serving.

To frosting the cake, spoon frosting into a pastry bag with no tip attached. Starting in the hole of the bundt cake, squeeze and drag frosting up and over, stopping about 3/4th way down the cake. Repeat all around cake. Frost cake right before serving. Adorn cake with a silk flower or a tissue paper pom pom.

The unfrosted bundt cake can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.


This cake is soft  and moist with a deliciously light lemon flavor.  Surprisingly easy to make, your friends will think you bought it from Nothing Bundt Cake. This cake will make you feel like it is spring time!