Lemon-Mint Tart

I never was a lemon person. Whenever I needed fresh citrus for cooking, I used limes. In fact, we could go months without ever buying a lemon. My taste buds must be changing, though, because I’ve started to appreciate the taste of lemon, particularly in sweet (but not too sweet!) incarnations.


The whipped cream tempers the tartness of the custard. The marionberry syrup, which I got at the farmers' market, gives this dessert a nice tang.

The local supermarket was having a special on lemons, 2 lb bags for $1.88. What a deal, huh? I picked up 3 bags. Mostly I’ve been making lemonade and refreshing cocktails, but Hubby suggested making a dessert. Never made a lemon tart before, so I thought I’d give that a try. I found a recipe on Food Network, courtesy of Francois Payard, that seemed pretty straightforward, but it wasn’t. I only blame myself for messing around with a recipe from a world-famous pattisier. However, everything worked out fine in the end and we all lived happily ever after, as you can tell from the picture.

Lemon-mint tart
adapted from Francois Payard’s recipe on Food Network

• ½ cup packed mint leaves (stems okay too), roughly chopped
• ½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 3 or 4 lemons)
• zest from lemons
• ½ cup granulated sugar (about 4 oz)
• 4 to 5 eggs
• 3 tbs unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Sweet tart dough

• 1 cup + 1 tbs confectioners’ sugar
• 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
• pinch salt
• 9 tbs unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large egg

In a mortar, grind the mint leaves with the lemon zest and a little of the sugar. When you get a rough paste, transfer it to a plastic or glass container. Add the lemon juice and the rest of the sugar. Mix well and allow the mixture to sit overnight in the fridge. This will help extract more of the mint flavor.

This dough recipe makes enough for two tarts, but the filling is only enough for one. Don’t ask me why; I’m just the chump who tried out the recipe. I used mini-tart pans and got 9 of them using half the dough. You may freeze the other half, well wrapped, for a couple of months or use it for another tart.

The easiest way to make the crust is with a food processor. Add all the ingredients, except the egg, and pulse until they are uniform. Add the egg and pulse just until the dough comes together. Turn out the dough. It will be sticky. REALLY, VERY, TOTALLY STICKY! I wish I would have known that in advance so I could adequately flour my counter. Divide the dough in half and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. You definitely don’t want to skip this part. You want the dough to be chilled through when you roll it out, otherwise you will just have a terrible sticky mess. (Make sure you have plenty of flour handy when you roll out the dough because you’ll need to lightly sprinkle flour on after every couple of passes. And work fast because the dough warms up pretty quickly. It was a bit annoying since I’d never worked with such a sticky dough before, but well worth it.) Pre-bake the crust at 350F for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until the crust starts to turn golden. Don’t let it get too brown because you’ll be giving it another 10 minutes when the custard bakes.

The following day, strain the mixture into a glass or other non-reactive bowl. Don’t be alarmed if the mixture looks a bit murky. As you can see from my picture, it brightens up after adding the remaining ingredients. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the butter and set the bowl over a pot of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. According to the original instructions, we’re supposed to whisk constantly until the butter melts and the mixture is smooth, but by that point my mixture was still quite thin and wasn’t really cooked. Luckily I have some experience making custard-based desserts, so I decided to continue cooking and whisking. As the mixture started to warm up, it did start to thicken a bit, but I was still afraid it would be too thin, so I added another egg. It thickened up quite quickly, but it may have done that if I just cooked it long enough. Basically it should be able to coat the back of a spoon. Set the mixture aside (off the water) to cool for a few minutes.

Pour the slightly cooled mixture into the pre-baked shell, and bake in a 325F oven (don’t go higher or the custard may curdle) just until the center sets, about 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on a rack, then in the fridge until completely chilled. Serve with whipped cream.

I'm submitting this to Weekend Wokking (before the deadline!), where the theme ingredient this month is, you guessed it, LEMONS! The host is Wandering Chopsticks. If you have a lemon recipe to submit, please send entries to wanderingchopsticks(at)gmail(dot)com by 11:59 May 31.

Weekend Wokking: Pumpkin Coconut Creme Brulee

There’s really nothing to say about this dessert, except that it’s absolutely fabulous! Everybody who tastes it will sing your praises. They’ll tell you that you’re a genius. They’ll tell you that your pumpkin coconut crème brulee is probably the best they’ve ever tasted. You’ll even have the die-hard-vanilla-only-crème-brulee purists wrapped around your finger. It’s that good.




Note: I used garam masala because this dessert was destined for an Indian food potluck. You may choose the more traditional spices found in pumpkin pie or Emeril's suggestions.

Pumpkin Coconut Crème Brulee
adapted from Emeril’s recipe

• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ½ tsp garam masala
• 1 cup mashed pumpkin
• 8 egg yolks
• approx 2 tbs raw sugar for the top (I hear granulated works fine too)
  

In a medium saucepan, heat the coconut milk, heavy cream, sugars and garam masala just to the boiling point, stirring frequently.

While the cream is heating, in a large glass or non-reactive bowl, whip the egg yolks until they are pale, about 2 minutes.

Temper the eggs by adding about a cup of the hot cream slowly with vigorous whipping. Add the remaining cream and mashed pumpkin. Whisk well to mix thoroughly.

Strain the mixture through a semi-fine sieve. Don’t skip this step because the pumpkin may have some coarse or gritty bits in it. Divide the custard among eight ½ cup ramekins or a casserole dish that can hold about 4 cups. Place in a water bath (use boiling water), making sure the water goes at least halfway up the sides of the ramekins or casserole. Bake at 300F. The ramekins will take about an hour. It took me 1.5 hours for the larger casserole. These times are approximate. The custard will not be firm like a quiche, but it shouldn't appear runny either. It’s best to use your judgment. If it still looks too wobbly, leave it in for longer, checking every 10 minutes or so.

Once the custard is done, remove it from the oven and place it on a rack to cool to room temperature before sticking it in the fridge to set overnight.

To serve, put the custard in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before caramelizing the sugar on top. If you are going to use a broiler for the job, freeze the custard for 45 minutes to 1 hour, otherwise the custard will be warm and loose, rather than thick and creamy. Trust me, it won’t freeze through. Serve immediately after caramelizing the sugar.


This is my submission to Weekend Wokking (just in the nick of time!), created by Wandering Chopsticks. Precious Pea is hosting this month. Check out the round-up at her site this coming Wednesday to see the other submissions and to get the next secret ingredient. To find out who’s hosting or if you’re interesting in hosting, click here.