Tartelettes Au Citron
Tartelettes au citron are mentioned in “All The Devils Are Here”, just as lemon meringue pies are mentioned in almost every book in the series. We were inspired to make mini tartelettes au citron during our group discussion of ATDAH and threw this plate together when this dessert was mentioned by Jane Baechle on our “Inspiring food from the book” day. We realized we should share it here too, with our recipe if anyone is interested.
Our tartlettes au citron are made with typical shortcrust pastry, but we brush the shells with 65% semi-sweet chocolate to ensure that they don’t get soggy from the lemon cream curd filling, regardless of how long they sit. The chocolate adds a very nice flavour to the dessert that we miss in other lemon tarts that don’t bother with the extra step to include it. It really is that much better.
We use Dorie Greenspan’s technique (who learned it from Pierre Herme!) for making the lemon cream curd. It differs from traditional lemon curd in that the butter is not added to the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and zest during heating. Instead, the eggs, sugar, juice and zest are heated to 175F and then allowed to cool to 140F, and the butter is then added at that time so it does not completely separate into liquid/fats. Because the butter is not heated to such a high temperature, it solidifies upon cooling, which means that this lemon cream curd does not ooze out of the shell when cut or bitten. This lemon cream curd holds its shape extraordinarily well, with a smooth, rich, tart flavour that is perfect. It’s far superior than traditional lemon curd, so much so that any curd I make is always a cream curd made with this technique.
The macarons pictured are filled with a white chocolate ganache ring and a nice dollop of lemon cream curd in the centre.
More Photos From Book Club Friends (click to enlarge)
Recipe:
3/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons lemon zest
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup butter
Mix together sugar and zest and heat until fragrant. Add juice, sugar and beaten eggs. Heat to 175F, stirring constantly. Let cool to 140F and add room temperature butter that has been divided into cubes. Added a few cubes at a time. Mix with immersion blender. Strain out zest. Refrigerate with cling film over surface to prevent a skin from forming.
