Lemon White Chocolate Tart

I’m just going to admit it, I view most rules as mere guidelines.  This can sometimes get you in trouble… especially if you are baking. I will tell you that this story ends happily, and all enjoyed this light and intense lemony tart.

I bought some Meyer Lemons the other day at Costco, it’s a big container, but I was intrigued by the “Meyer” name and it was a $1 cheaper than the regular lemons, so I got them!  Meyer lemons are thought to be a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange, but it seems to be pretty subtle to me. There are 14 big, juicy lemons in there… oh wow, I am going to have to get busy thinking of lots of lemony things to make.  Right on the package was this little recipe for a Meyer Lemon White Chocolate Tart.  It looked SO easy, and I knew I had all the ingredients. My problem started when I did not read the instructions all the way through.  I thought I knew what to do…

It all ended well, and though this is not the recipe that I thought I was making, it was very well received at a family dinner last night! I’ll give you the ‘version’ of what I could have done if I had followed the recipe.  I think either version would be great.

Ingredients:

3 large eggs

½ cup sugar

1 cup heavy cream

2 large lemons, juiced (Use Meyer if you have, otherwise, regular lemons are FINE!)

2/3 cup real white chocolate chips

My issue came about because when I took my whipping cream out of the fridge, I noticed I didn’t have quite a full cup.  Thinking it was no big deal, I promptly added some 2% milk to make it the required amount.  That’s when I noticed that I was supposed to WHIP the cream into soft peaks…. Hmmm, now what?  Because I knew this cream would never, ever whip up, I needed to think up a ‘plan B’.  Go back to the store you say? Never…. I like the challenge of finding a way out of my troubles (that I created!).  In re-reading the recipe and instructions, I could see that essentially I could make a rich pudding-like filling out of the same ingredients.

First, get a small tart pan (about 8-9” inches), if you don’t have one with a removable bottom, use a quiche dish or a regular pie plate. Use a regular pie crust (my recipe is below) or even a graham cracker or cookie crust would work too. Make sure your crust is pre-baked, cooled and ready to go.  You will need to immediately pour the filling into the crust when it is done.

In a heavy saucepan, beat the 3 eggs with a whisk. 

Add the lemon juice and the sugar and cook over medium heat.  Whisk constantly… if you stop you could have a burned mess or strange brownish bits floating in your custard!  If this frightens you, you ought to use a double boil as the original recipe called for.  You’ll see the mixture start to thicken up pretty quick.  Gradually add the cream, whisking constantly.  It will continue to thicken as it cooks. Add the 2/3 cup of white chocolate chips and mix until melted.  Pour into the pre-cooked tart shell.  Chill for a couple hours in the fridge. 

***If your mixture looks like it's not thickening, you can add a tablespoon of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water.  Add to the mixture and whisk and cook another 1-2 minutes to cook the cornstarch.

***If you want to make the package recipe, do all steps above except adding the cream.  Instead, whip the cream and fold into the cooled lemon mixture, then add into your tart pan. This version is probably much more light and fluffy than what I made.

Looking at my tart, I thought it was a bit… well, pale.  So I spruced mine up by doing the following:

Very thinly slice another lemon (removing all seeds), add to ½ cup water and ½ cup sugar and simmer on medium heat for about 15-20 minutes.  Remove the lemon slices and place on wax paper to cool.  The slices will be essentially be “candied” and you can arrange them as you like on top of the tart.  Once the lemon slices are candied, you can eat the whole thing, peel and all, if you like. 

Pie Crust

Okay, okay…. I will admit I used to shamelessly use those pre-made pie crusts that you can buy at any grocery store.  I would defend these crusts and tell people they couldn’t tell the difference and it was “so easy”.  But, we all know, while they are easy, they really don’t taste that great… now, do they?  I’ve since found the perfect recipe that is so easy and tasty, AND you can even premake it and have it in your fridge when you need it most.  I usually make 2-3 batches of this recipe about a week or two before Thanksgiving and Christmas so that I can easily make a pie or two a night until the ‘big day’. I’ve now been using this method for about 3-4 years and I am totally reformed!  I found out many years later, that a certain sister never asked me to bring pies because I used those pre-made pie crusts… how sad was I?

This is adapted from the Mary Engelbreit’s Sweet Treats Dessert Cookbook (which is very good, by the way!). Makes 2 pie crusts, or one double crust pie.

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp Sugar (can be omitted for savory pies, like quiche)

½ tsp salt

1 cup of cold butter*, cut into ½ inch cubes

5-6 Tbsp very cold water

* Unsalted butter is best, but really, I use regular butter mostly because I don’t always have the unsalted on hand… I still question WHY I would use unsalted and then add salt…? I know all the reasons that cooks give, but I really don’t think there’s really that much difference.

There are a couple ways of preparing this, either by food processor or by hand.  By hand is really better, because the less you handle the pie crust, the more tender it will be, BUT, that being said, a food processor is waayyyy easier, and anyway you do is way more tender and better than the store bought pre-made stuff.

If you decide to use your food processor, be sure to use ‘pulse’ to mix it and that way you can control just how much mixing the pie crust gets!

If you don’t have a food processor, this is quite easy by hand too!

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Use a pastry blender, or your finger tips to cut in the butter until the crust resembles coarse corn meal. Drizzle in about 5 Tbsp of the water and mix, or until it starts to come together in clumps.  Use one more Tbsp of water if its not coming together. 

Divide the dough in half and place on a large piece of plastic wrap… it will look a little crumbly still, but that’s OK! If you can make it stick together with your fingers (as shown above) it will be OK! Pull up the edges of the plastic wrap and smash the dough into a disk shape. Make sure each disk is well wrapped and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and up to a week. The reason you need to refrigerate the dough is to develop the gluten content which helps it to form and stick together… just do it, it’s only 30 minutes.

Baking the crust…

Take the crust out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you are ready to roll it out. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes for a pre-baked unfilled crust, otherwise follow the instructions for your regular pie recipe.

How simple is that?