Tarte au citron

  This recipe was used as a skill's test on the great British bake off. Having had a crack at Lemon tart previously resulting in overcooked crumbling pastry and an undercooked filling it was a welcome change to have crisp, light pastry with slight sweetness and tangy light lemon filling. You will need a 23 inch fluted loose-bottomed tart or flan tin.


Serves 6-8

Pastry
175g Plain flour,sifted
100g Cold unsalted butter, cubed, plus extra for greasing
25g Icing sugar, sifted, plus a little extra for dusting
1 Egg yolk
1 Tablespoon cold water

Filling
150g Caster sugar
3 Egg's
100ml Double cream
Juice and zest of three large lemons


1. For the pastry, add the flour, butter and icing sugar into a food processor. Pulse until the mixture is the texture of breadcrumbs, add the egg and the water and pulse until the mixture comes together in a ball, the texture will be very light to the touch.

2. Knead the pastry two or three times on a floured surface, wrap the ball in cling film and chill for 15mins, grease the tart shell with a little butter.

3. Once the pastry is chilled, roll out to the thickness of a pound coin in a circle larger than the tart shell. Roll the pastry back over the pin and lay over the tin so that it drapes over the edges. Press the pastry into the fluted edges and on the base, prick the base lightly with a fork and cover with cling film. Preheat the oven to 200C and chill the pastry case for 30 minutes allowing the oven to come up to temperature.

4. Once the case has chilled, line the base with greaseproof paper and baking beans/pulses, place into the oven for 12-15 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven and take out the beans and paper, place the shell back into the oven for a further 12-15 minutes until lightly golden brown.

6. Take the case out and with a sharp knife cut around the top edges of the tin to remove the excess pastry, leave the case to cool while you prepare the filling, reduce the temperature at this point to 160C.

7. Whisk together all the filling ingredients and add to a jug, place the pastry case onto the oven rack and pour in the filling, leave to bake for 30-35 minutes until the filling has set and there is a slight wobble in the middle.

8. Leave to cool slightly on a wire rack before releasing from the tart shell, dust the tart with icing sugar and serve warm.