I’ve had a few requests for the recipe to that beautiful lemon tart I made for last Saturday night’s dessert. And it was great.
But I can’t take full credit. The ladies responsible for that recipe are Carole Clements and Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen. The recipe is from the book they co-wrote.
French—The Secrets of Classic Cooking Made Easy.
If you should ever come across this book, buy it. Don’t hesitate. Don’t even stop to think. Just buy it. It is a fantastic cookbook–easy and foolproof and full of French homestyle recipes!
I honestly cannot say enough about this book. I’ve written about it a few times in past blog posts. It cost me all of $6.00 at Borders. Remember the book store Borders? Well, when Oona was at her Irish Dance classes in North Jersey, I would drive over to the Borders store close to Scotch Plains. There’s nothing like a book store to while away a couple of hours. Every trip brings a new adventure.
Anyway, when I started seeing Bonaparte, I thought it would be a promising idea if, perhaps, I was able to whip something up that reminded him of his home country. When I saw this book, I immediately picked it up.
Lo and behold, he started flipping through the pages shortly after my purchase and he said many of the recipes were basic old-school French home cooking.
Since then, this is my go-to book. I’m not kidding. It’s used more than my Barefoot Contessa books—and the pages have the stains to prove it.
There are some excellent dessert recipes in here too. One that I hadn’t made was the Lemon Tart or as they say in French, Tarte au Citron. I happen to love lemon. It’s just a refreshing taste—I make Lemon Curd quite often and I always have a jar of preserved lemons on hand. And so, I decided to make this lovely dessert.
The tart turned out just as beautiful as in the photos!
Here’s the recipe:
- 1 shortcrust pastry (recipe for shortcrust follows this)
- Grated rind of 2 to three lemons (I used three)
- 2/3 cup lemon juice (fresh or the kind you buy in the store—really doesn’t matter)
- ½ cup superfine sugar (I used regular sugar and the result was fantastic)
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream
- 4 eggs plus 3 egg yolks
- Confectioner’s sugar for dusting.
- Preheat oven to 375. Roll out the pastry thinly and line a 9-inch pie plate or tart pan (I used a tart pan). Prick the base of the pastry.
- Line the pastry shell with foil and fill with baking beans (I used the ceramic kind) bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the edges are set and dry. Remove the foil and beans and bake for an additional 5 to 7 minutes.
- Place the lemon rind, juice and sugar in a bowl. Beat until combined then gradually add the heavy cream. (I used my KitchenAid).
- Beat in the eggs, one at a time then beat in the yokes and pour the filling into the pastry shell. Place the tart on a cookie sheet and bake for about 30 minutes. The recipe in the book says 15 minutes. I’m pretty sure I had my tart in the oven for a good 40 minutes.
- Let cool, chill and dust with Confectioner’s sugar before serving. I whipped some heavy cream with a bit of Confectioner’s sugar, spooned into a pastry bag and piped little stars on the tart. Sorry, I didn’t take a pic of the decorated tart. I forgot!
Shortcrust Pastry
- 1 ¼ cups flour
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar (I used 1 tablespoon)
- ½ cup unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
- 3 to 8 tbsps. iced water.
- Place the flour, salt, and sugar into a large bowl. Cut the butter in. I use a pastry blender to cut the butter in but you can use your hands or even a food processor. Whatever works for you. Cut the butter in until the texture is like fine crumbs.
- Slowly add the water mixing until a crumbly dough begins to form. Don’t overdo it or the crust will end up tough. If too dry, add water by the drop, if too wet, add a bit of flour.
- Form into an oval, wrap in plastic and chill in the fridge for about a half hour.
- After a half hour, roll the dough out to o a nice thin circle and line in the pie plate or tart pan.
This is a GREAT crust recipe. It turns out perfect! But remember, don’t over mix!
Hands down, THE best crust recipe ever. EVER!
Right out of the oven. I allowed the tart to cool down to room temperature, then lightly covered in plastic wrap and put it into the fridge until time to enjoy!
And that is the recipe. It’s easy and light and lovely!
You know how much I have fallen in love with Laura Geller’s Balance n Brighten foundation, right? Well, I’m still in love with it and I’m using it every day.
I’m using the Balance-n-Brighten Foundation every day! Here I am wearing it today! (I’m also wearing Model Model “Joy” wig)
But, I never realized that powder and baked foundations are more difficult to clean off your face because of the fine composition.
Another look at this fabulous foundation!
Hey, I would have never known about this if I hadn’t watched the vlog of Jill Lynn Beauty Therapy on Evening Skin Care Routine. She used the term “anti-aging” and if you go onto YouTube and read the comments you will see my comment on the use of “anti-aging”. Despite the fact she used “that” term, she’s got some stellar advice.
I cringe with the use of “Anti-Aging” but Jill Lynn Beauty Therapy has some good tips. Maybe I can get her to stop using “Anti-Aging”!
I like her gentle manner and she wears wigs too!
Anyway, I decided to heed her advice and after washing with my favored Vivant Skincare Mandelic Acid 3-in1 Wash I spritzed the brand’s 3% Mandelic Acid 3-in-one toner on a cotton round.
This is the toner. It doesn’t dry your face either!
Can you believe this? And I thought my skin was cleaned. It’s true, the baked foundation really does stick to your skin!
Holy Shit. I couldn’t believe the dirt that was still left in my pores. I almost ran down to the laundry room to grab the Lestoil! For my face!
I was too lazy to run upstairs and take a photo so I robbed this off the Vivant Skincare website. Read my review on Vivant Skincare Products. (Click on the name). I’m telling you, this skincare company has great, great products. The 3-in-1 wash lasts forever. You only need a bit to clean your entire face!
Instead, I went back, gave my face a second scrubbing with the Wash and repeated the toner. That second scrubbing really got all that baked-in foundation off.
After the second cleansing. I’m thinking that perhaps I should treat myself to a facial–a deep cleaning one!
Watching the vlog also made me realize that I need to be less lazy about my evening skincare routine. I’ve been exfoliating and taking extra diligent care of my skin!
Remember—if you use a mineral powder foundation or a baked foundation, make sure your skin is cleansed well!
Now on to nothing particularly special. Bonaparte doesn’t like my tying an Herme’s scarf on my purse—according to him, it was too expensive to be thrown around.
I love the way my Hermes scarf looks on the Longchamp bag. Bonaparte does not.
So, I searched for inexpensive alternatives. Through another blogger, I found out about an inexpensive web shop. Shein. There are some interesting items being sold on this site.
I would not buy clothing simply because I’ve heard the stuff runs very, very small. However, the selection of scarfs that are available is astounding.
I purchased this cute scarf and…
It’s on my other Longchamp bag. OMG!! I just noticed the blanket on the sofa! I’m a bad blogging photographer. I should have taken the blanket off the sofa but it’s raining and Chippy would make the sofa dirty!
Chippy’s got the rhythm!
At an average price of $5.00 for the scarfs, it is an excellent buy. Especially if you are planning to wear a scarf as a handbag accessory or a thin scarf as a wrap bracelet.
Shein’s five dollar version of the Twilly scarf…
Which I purchased and wear as a wrap bracelet. I’m diggin’ this look. I must buy more!
And guess what else Shein sells? Sandals that look like a very famous and unattainable French brand that begins with the letter “H”—hint, I have an expensive scarf from the brand and Bonaparte doesn’t want me using it as an embellishment on my purse!
Yes. These are from Shein
Too bad they don’t come in narrow widths!
Yeah. $25, as opposed to over $600. They are a bit on the wide side, but I plan on hot gluing some foam on the inside of the straps to make the fit narrower. They look fine!
Well, that’s a whole lot of stuff tonight! Go get some lemons and make a tart!
Oh. I also got some new music. My man Laurent Voulzy released his Belem CD last week. It’s very Brazilian-inspired. Here’s some Spirit of Samba for you!
