Birthday Part 2 - Lemon tart

My cousin and Rasmus

Recipe from How to Cook Like Heston, by Heston Blumenthal

For the pastry:
♥ 300 g plain flour
♥ 150 g unsalted butter
♥ 1/2 tsp salt
♥ 120 g icing sugar
♥ 3 large egg yolks
♥ 1/2 vanilla pod, the seeds
♥ Zest of 1 organic lemon
♥ 1 egg for the egg wash

For the filling:
♥ Finely granted zest and juice of 5 lemons
♥ 300 ml double cream
♥ 390 g white caster sugar
♥ 9 large eggs
♥ 1 large egg yolk

Method:

1. Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, butter and salt on low speed until it becomes a sand like texture
2. In the meantime, in a tall container blitz together the icing sugar and egg yolks with a hand blender
3. Add the vanilla seeds and lemon zest to the egg yolk mixture and then add to the bowl in the and continue to mix on low speed until fully combined and a very soft dough has formed
4. Mould the dough into a flat rectangle and wrap it in clingfilm before placing in the fridge for at least 1 hour
5. Roll the pastry between two sheets of baking paper to a thickness of 2 mm, using two stacked 2 pence coins as guides, then place in the freezer for 30 minutes
6. Preheat the oven to 190ºC. Line a 26 cm tart tin (2.5 cm deep) with the pastry making sour two press it into the edges and leave the pastry hanging over the edge
7. Take a sheet of baking paper and scrunch it up several times two eliminera Any sharp edges. Prick the dough with a fork all over the surface. Place the baking paper on top and add enough coins (or baking beans) to fill the casing ¼ of the way up. Place in the preheated oven to bake for approximately 20 minutes or frem til fully cooked.
8. In the mean time, mix some of the leftover dough with an egg using a hand blender.
9. After 20 minutes, remove the baking paper and coins and, using a pastry brush, brush hele surface of the tart with the dough and egg mixture. This' liquid pastry vil sikre, at Any holes bliver sealed. Return the tart two the oven for an additional 10 minutes.
10. Remove the tart from the oven and the allow to cool completely.
11. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 120 º C / gas mark ½. Place the baked pastry case in the oven to warm up.
12. Put all the filling ingredients into a bowl and mix together using a spatula. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and the allow two warm up frem til the temperature Reaches 60 º C. At this point, strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a jug. With a spoon, remove the bubbles from the surface of the liquid.
13. Slide the oven rack out a bit, then pour the mixture into the warm pastry case inside the oven. Fill the case two the top, slide the rack care fully back in, and bake the tart for ca 25 minutes or frem til the temperature of the filling Reaches 70 º C. Allow to cool completely at room temperature.
14. Just before serving, trim the overhanging pastry by running a sharp knife round the top of the tart tin and discard.

Enjoy!