Gordon Ramsay's lemon tart

I've been dying to bake something.. anything! And piggies are not helping!

Nothing seems to tickle their fancy this week! And I'm out of ideas of what to bake.. Then I remembered the orange tart from levain's I had recently. The taste was extraordinary! The filling was lusciously soft and creamy. And that's what I want to make!

Alas, I have no oranges! Only lemons.. that's been sitting in the fridge for a month.. maybe 2 (^^||).. Guess when life gives you lemons, you make lemon tart (^^).

So I searched the net and found Gordon Ramsay's lemon tart. This recipe is quite similar to the one by theenglishkitchen.blogspot. Both uses cream for the filling, which sounds like what I'm trying to replicate. Better still, the recipe looks easy (^^).

Gordon Ramsay's lemon tart (found in bbc good food website)

6 eggs (2 whole, 4 yolks)
180g caster sugar
200ml double cream
2 lemons, juiced (I used 3 lemons, zest and juice.. don't!)
Icing sugar, to dust

50g dark chocolate, melted (double boil method)
  
Sweet pastry
125g unsalted butter
90g caster sugar (I used 75g)
1 egg
250g plain flour
1 tbsp cold water

1. Tart shell. Whizz butter and sugar in a food processor till just combined. Add egg and whizz for 30 seconds. Add flour and process for a few seconds until the dough comes together. Add cold water if dough is dry. Knead lightly on a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disc, and chill for 30 minutes.

2. Heat the oven to 190C. Roll pastry out and line a 20cm loose-based tart tin. Leave excess pastry hanging over the edge (I tried to, but the excess pastry just dropped off by itself! Maybe, the pastry's rolled out too thin.. Anyways, I used the excess pastry to make 2 smaller moulds (^^). Rest for 20 minutes in the fridge. Line the pastry with baking parchment and baking beans. Bake blind for 15 minutes, until the sides just begin to color. Remove beans and parchment paper and bake for another 5 minutes or until the base is cooked and lightly golden.

3. Brush the base with the melted chocolate and cool. Lower oven to 110C.

4. Whisk eggs and sugar together, and stir in the cream. Add lemon juice.

5. Strain the filling through a fine sieve into a jug. Pour half the filling into the pastry shell and put the pastry shell into the bottom oven shelf. Gently pour the remaining filling into the pastry shell.

6. Bake for 50-60 minutes until the filling is almost set. It should have a slight wobble in the centre. Trim excess pastry and leave to cool. (Don't worry about the bubbles, just put a cling film over the surface when cool, lift up and you'll have a smooth, beautiful surface)


I'm quite sure that I've over-done the lemons.. it sure is tangy.. so just use 2 lemons as the recipe suggests.. But the texture of the filling is exactly what I'm looking for, luscious, wobbly soft and creamy. I'm quite sure this recipe would make a fantastic orange tart! Just the way I like it (^^). I've found my orange tart recipe! Yay!

Anyways, only big pig seems to like this very 'tangy' tart (my fault). But after dusting with lots of icing sugar, it does taste better. Wonder if it'll taste better tomorrow.. fingers crossed (^^).

Sweet and tangy ~ big likes!