Easy yummy very french lemon tart (tarte au citron) February 19, 2009

Hello y’all! I hope you are having a nice week!

Here I am on my baking days, I am having a batch of muffins in the oven right now.

But the recipe I will post now is the one I did yesterday.

This is definitely my favorite dessert EVER !

I was talking to my friend yesterday, she was telling me how much she loves french food, but it is so complicated, expensive, fancy… for her.

I don’t know why people have this image of french food!

You know, there is a lot of “poor” people in France and they actually eat!

French food is about tradition, local good products, nothing to do with those fancy-super-expensive-big-plate-small-food restaurants!

Anyway, I would like to share with you my favorite recipe! It is easy, cheap, quickly done, and so yummy!!

TARTE AU CITRON MERINGUEE

You will need:

For the crust:

- 2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 6 tsp ice water

For the filling:

- 2 lemons
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup white sugar

For the meringue:

- 4 egg whites
- 1/2 cup sugar

How to:

For the crust, you mix with your fingertips the flour with the butter, then add salt, sugar, and water. Mix it a little bit and form a ball.
Let it set for an hour, then roll it and place it in a pie pan.
Bake it in the oven 10 minutes at 350 F.

Then, you will have to take the zest of 1 lemon, just the yellow part, not the white. Mince it well in very small, thin pieces.
Squeeze the 2 lemons and keep the juice in a bowl.
In another bowl, put the sugar, add the egg yolks (keep the whites for the meringue!!)
Mix well until it turns white and creamy.
Add the juice, mix well to incorporate it, then add the zest and do the same.

Now you can pour the lemon mixture in the pie crust. Put it in the oven at 375 F for approximately 25 minutes.

Your pie is done!

But since we have the egg whites and it is a french recipe, OK, we can add the fancy part!

Whip up the egg whites until firm (it may take 5 to 10 minutes), when it is done, progressively add the sugar and whip 5 more minutes. They have to be shiny and firm.

When the pie is done, put it out the oven and pour or put nicely the meringue on top. Gently! Then put it back in the oven for 5 minutes or until the meringue is brown.

You have to let this pie cool completely before cutting or eating.

I recommend putting it in the fridge for an hour before eating, so the lemon filling will become thicker (when it is hot it is liquid).

It is also very good the next day, I like to do it Saturday night to eat it as a dessert for Sunday lunch.

Did you like it? Leave me a comment to know how it turned out for you!

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