Simple lemon tart : Ma tarte au citron
During summer, I went visiting my parents in France. They live in the French countryside (South of Bordeaux and north of the Spain border ), called the French Basque country. One of my guilty pleasures overthere is to relax in the garden on a long chair with tons of my moms’ French magazines: Elle, Marie-Claire, Art et Decoration, Atsmophere…they are always a great source for cooking, styling and decoration ideas. This is a pure bliss and relaxation for me.
One aftenoon while my kids were playing with their cousins I decided to review some old Elle a Table magazines. I kept them all. I was flipping through the magazine # 25 (April / May 2003) and noticed 2 pages dedicated to the best lemon tarts. I was hooked and I knew I will make one of the recipe…one day!
Guess what? I ended up taking back home in the US most of my Elle a Table“magazines collection. Yes indeed very heavy for my injured elbow and the airline regulations. But you have to do what you have to do! Now when I need to relax I sit in my comfortable club chair and read the same magazines.
Few weeks ago our dear friends Michael and Jackie came for diner. I wanted to share with them a nice French diner: La Vichyssoise cold soup to start with folowed by , mini vol au vent avec quenelles de dinde et champignons (chicken and mishroom dumplings), Comte cheeses, green salad with nuts and a Tarte au citron or Lemon tart. I choose Martial Enguehard recipe for Lenotre..
I totally fell in love with the buttery-almond crust, the sweetness / tartness from the lemon, and then the softness of the meringue melting in your mouth… so just perfect. I love Ma tarte au citron.
Martial Enguehard’s Lemon Tart for Lenotre, Paris – Elle a Table # 25
For 6
Pep: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Rest 2 h
For the dough
80 g – ¾ C flour
60 g- 4 Tbsp butter soften
15 g – 1/8 C almond meal
30 g -1/8 C sugar
2 egg yolks
½ vanilla bean
1 pinch of salt
For the Lemon Cream
3 Organic lemons
130 g – 2/3 C sugar
70 g- 1/3 C butter
3 large eggs
1Tbsp cornflour
For the meringue
2 Tbsp sugar
2 egg whites
Prepare the dough:
Cut the vanilla into 2 lengthwise and scrape it to recover the seeds. Mix the flour with the butter, a pinch of salt,vanilla, almond meal, icing sugar and egg yolks. Knead until dough is smooth. Refrigerate at least 2 h. Preheat oven th. 6 / 180 degrees. Roll out the dough and place it in a mold – tart pan. Prick the bottom with a fork, and cook 20 minutes.
Prepare the lemon cream
Squeeze the lemons. Made based butter. Whisk the eggs with the sugar and cornstarch. Pour this mixture over the boiling butter.Mix quickly by adding 11.5 cl lemon juice. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly until the cream thickens. Remove from heat and let cool.
For the meringue: Beat 2 egg whites until stiff incorporating sugar and 2 drops of lemon juice. Pour the cream over the pastry, then top with meringue. bake in the oven a few minutes under the grill.
Recette de Martial Enguehard pour Lenotre – Elle a Table # 25
Pour 6 personnes- Pep: 20 mn
Cuisson: 20 Mn Repos 2 h
En Francais
Pour la pate
80 g farine
60 g beure
15bgr de poudre d’amandes
30 g de sucre glace
2 jaunes d oeufs
½ gousse de vanilla
1 pincee de sel
Pou la crème au citron
3 citrons non traites
130 g sucre
70 g de beurre
3 gros oeufs
1c a soupe de Maizena
Pour la meringue
2 c. a soupe
2 blancs oeufs
50 g d amandes effilees
Preparez la pate:
Coupez la vanilla en 2 dans le sens de la longueur et grattez-la pour recuperer les graines. Melangez la farine avec le beurre prealablement ramoli, 1 pincee de sel, la vanilla, la poudre d’amandes, le sucre glace puis les jaunes d’oeufs. Petrissez jusqu’a obtenir une pate bien lisse. Reservez au refrigerateur au moins 2 h. Prechauffez le four th. 6/180 degres. Etalez la pate et placez-la dans un moule. Piquez le fond a l’aide d’une fourchette, faites cuire a blanc 20 mn.
Preparez la crème au citron
Pressez les citrons. Faites fonder le beurre. Fouettez les oeufs avec le sucre et la Maizena. Versez ce mélange sur le beurre bouillant. Melangez vivement en ajoutant 11,5 cl jus de citron. Faites chauffer sur feu moyen en remuant sans arret jusqu’a ce que la crème epaississe. Retirez du feu et laissez refroidir.
Pour la meringue: Montez 2 blancs d ‘oeufs en neige en incorporant le sucre et 2 goutte de jus de citron. Versez la crème sur le fond de tarte, puis recouvrez de meringue. Parsemez d’amandes effilees, puis passez au four quelques instants sous le grill.
Nathalie Péréault-Lebaube
Coucou Céline,
Elle a l’air trop bonne ta tarte au citron. Je vais la faire très rapidement et je te raconterai !! Bisous