Lemon Curd Tart Recipe from 'Short Stack'
Photos: Mackenzie Smith
Short Stack Editions is a series of ingredient-driven, small-format cookbooks. The following recipe comes from Short Stack Volume 13: Lemons. Go here for more information about this recipe project.
Lemon Tart with Whipped Ricotta
Makes one 9-inch pie
This tart is basically an excuse to eat lemon curd with cheese, which are two of life’s greatest things. Together, even better. Finding the perfect lemon curd is a very personal experience, since some prefer it very creamy, others very tart, maybe a bit runny or perhaps the texture of whipped cream. This one has lots of butter and also uses whole eggs, making it pretty thick—and thus ideal for tart filling. I also prefer mine on the tangy side, which some interpret as mouth-puckering, so you can always increase the sugar by up to ¼ cup if you’re not a diehard lemon lover (but if you’re not, what are you doing reading this?).
For the crust:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
Kosher salt
½ cup unsalted butter, chilled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg, beaten to blend
For the filling:
1 cup fresh lemon or Meyer lemon juice
¾ cup sugar
2 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup (11/2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled, cut into ½ -inch cubes
1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
Flaky or coarse sea salt
Make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350°. Combine the flour, sugar and ¾ teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl. Add the butter and, using your hands or a pastry cutter, rub the butter into the dry mixture until it’s pretty well incorporated. Using a fork, add the egg and 2 tablespoons of makes ice water and mix until a shaggy dough forms, kneading it all together to incorporate any dry spots. Form into a disc, wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until the dough is pretty firm, about 2 hours.
On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out into an 11-inch round. Press the dough into a 9-inch tart pan. Line the dough with parchment paper and fill it with baking beans or rice. Bake until the crust is light golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the baking beans and continue to bake until the crust is totally baked through and golden brown, another 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely.
Make the filling: Whisk the lemon juice, sugar, eggs, yolks and salt in a medium saucepan. Place over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly (to prevent scrambled eggs), until the mixture has thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat and transfer to a blender. With the blender on low speed, slowly add the butter, a few pieces at a time (this creates the silkiest, smoothest curd ever). Once the butter has been totally incorporated, pour the curd into the tart shell and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
To serve, whip the ricotta and powdered sugar together in a large bowl until supersmooth and creamy (just a bowl and a whisk will do here). Smear the mixture on top of the lemon curd, then sprinkle all over with the flaky salt.
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