Tuesday, May 12, 2009

TWD: Tartest Lemon Tart 3 ways

I loved butter as a child. No matter how many times I got into trouble, every time I was out of my mother’s site, I would crawl up onto the kitchen table and eat the butter. By itself.


Not much has changed, I still love butter. (Although, I don’t sit on my kitchen table eating it by itself anymore that would be just plain weird.) I love the smell of butter and sugar mixing together, which is why I love this tart shell. It's buttery and it’s so easy for pastry dough, that it just doesn’t seem right. I left out the almonds…I don’t like almonds messing with my tart dough. It's a texture thing. Just my humble opinion.

Tart dough...I'm somewhat rustic when it comes to tart dough

Lemon dessert isn’t something I discovered I enjoyed until a year ago. I thought the only dessert out there was chocolate…and from the looks of TWD lately...you would think that chocolate WAS THE only dessert on this earth ;).

I didn’t use Meyer lemons like some of the other bakers. I would have loved to use Meyer lemons, but you see I’m leaving for Italy on Friday….and I am trying to use up whatever food stock I have before I leave.

I left the piff of the lemons off, as I received insider tips that it made this tart too bitter. I was sure to save all the zest…I mean….who would waste perfectly good zest? I tasted the batter….it tasted like delicious, sweet lemonade.

I made mini tarts….I figured it would make these easy to pawn off on my neighbors…who love lemon desserts. But since there were 4 tarts…I decided…why not make them different. So I added raspberries to one, blueberries another and two plain lemon tarts. I still had leftover lemon filling so I saved it and froze it for another occasion. I can’t wait for that lemon occasion.

My only problem was extracting the tarts from their pan….it’s possible I should have tried it while it was warm but I feared it would crumble in a million pieces. I think they may be permanently fixated in the pan…


I topped mine with powdered sugar for the photo op…but I plan on topping with whipped cream or crème fraiche when I serve this tonight after dinner. That is…if they make it that long.

Overall, this tart was very lemon-y (um...its called TARTEST Lemon tart for a reason)! If you like tart lemonade…you would love this. The texture is probably what I liked the most, really gooey caramel-y texture with the tart undertones (or really overtones in this instance) makes the dessert and I enjoyed it.

Thank you, Babette of Babette Feasts for hosting this lovely dessert this week. If you would like the recipe, be sure to check out Babette’s page or buy the book “Baking from My Home to Yours” by Dorie Greenspan. Be sure to check out the other bakers who diligently work each week with TWD!

I will be leaving Friday for Italy and out of the blogging world until after the Memorial Holiday….can’t wait to share our adventures with you! Don’t worry though; you can still check in on the other TWD bakers while I am gone!

12 comments:

Jessica said...

Your tarts are gorgeous! I agree with you about the smell of butter and sugar, it's one of the best smells ever.
Have so much fun in Italy -- it's one of my favorite places in the world -- and I can't wait to read all about your travel adventures!

Charli said...

I had to laugh about you sneaking butter because i would 'hide' on the counter sneaking spoonfuls of butter as a child as well!! Enjoy Italy - I'm jealous :)

Kara said...

Oh I like the 3-way options. Very creative!~ :)

Nancy/n.o.e said...

Have a wonderful time in Italy!!! Aren't these tarts the perfect send off? I love what you did with the berries. And mine were just about glued to my tart molds, too.
Nancy

Hindy said...

Lovely photos! Glad you enjoyed the recipe.

Sweet as Coco said...

Jessica-thanks!

Charli-I can't believe there is another one of me out there! ;)

Kara, Cliva- Thank you so much! too kind!

Nancy-these were the absolute perfect send off! So good! I managed to get my tarts out...I had to let them get to room temp. It was still a struggle though. ;)

Amber Marie said...

Your tarts look great - I love the different fruit in them. I had to laugh at you eating plain butter. Have fun in Italy and happy feasting!

Sweet as Coco said...

Amber Marie- Thank you! Seems a lot of us can relate to a liking of butter ;)

PheMom said...

Really beautiful tarts - have a fabulous trip!!

Bungalow Barbara said...

Have a great trip!

Sweet as Coco said...

Thanks Holly and Barbara! Im very excited to go!

TeaLady said...

Beautiful little tarts. Great job. Have fun in Italia!!!