Lemon Curd Tarts

In the early years of Carême, we ran a little patisserie stall at the Barossa Farmers Market and these lemon curd tarts were our most popular item! The recipe originates from Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. It takes the traditional lemon curd process and reverses it by adding butter at the end to create a lighter, creamier finish. You can use it as a spread, as a layer in a sponge, or in a Vanilla Slice in place of custard!

Prep Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 12
Skill Level: intermediate

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Where to buy Carême Pastry

Ingredients

1 (435g packet) Carême All Butter Shortcrust, defrosted
155ml lemon juice + zest of 1 lemon
3 large eggs
1 large yolk
170g caster sugar
225g unsalted butter (cut into 2cm cubes)
Crème fraiche, to serve.

Method

Preheat oven to 180c fan-forced (200c non-fan).
Unroll the pastry sheet and dust with flour. Using an 8cm pastry cutter, cut 12 circles. If you re-roll the trim, you will get another 12 circles.
Line a tart tin with the pastry circles. Place the second tin on top (this acts a weight), then place on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is golden.
Carefully remove top tin and if not golden on base of tart return to oven for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool, then remove the shells from the tin.
Before you begin the lemon cream, fill a medium sized saucepan with about 5cm water and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile whisk the lemon juice, eggs, yolk and sugar together in a bowl. Place the bowl over the saucepan of simmering water and continue to whisk for 12 to 15 minutes, or until thick and your whisk leaves a trail through the curd.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to release heat. Don’t let it go cold!
Using a hand blender, add the butter in five batches, blending until fully incorporated between each addition (don't add all the butter at once!).
Beat in the lemon zest, then transfer the lemon cream to a bowl and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.
To serve, spoon the lemon cream into the tart shells and top with a dollop of crème fraiche.

Thermomix version

Insert butterfly into Thermomix, then add the lemon juice, zest, eggs, yolk and sugar. Set temperature to 80°C on speed 4 for 8 minutes.
Remove butterfly, cool to 70°C, then add butter in 5 batches, blending each batch on speed 5 for 5 seconds after each addition.
Transfer the lemon cream to a bowl and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.
To serve, spoon the lemon cream into the tart shells and top with a dollop of crème fraiche.

Notes

Left over lemon cream can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days – simply beat it with a wooden spoon before serving to restore its creamy texture.
For our little tarts, we used two of the Bake Master 12 cup perfect crust shallow baking pan.
The tart shells can be prepared the day before – simply store them in an airtight container.