The Lemony Snow White

our little Snow White

 Lemon 
Curd 
Meringue 
Tart

Even you may not prefer the taste of tangy and tart, the acidic sharpness of the lemon balanced with the sweet fluffiness of the meringue actually turn out to be quite a blissful marriage!

When I asked my husband to guess how I would name the tag line of this tart, he said “Volcano” while I named it a “ Lemony Snow White”. There is obviously not only the contrast of tartness and sweetness, but also man and woman!

Preheat oven to 180C

Pastry Dough

125g butter, diced

100g icing sugar

1 egg yolk at room temperature

vanilla seeds

zest of ½ lemon

a pinch of salt

250g unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tbsp water

• Mix the butter, sugar, egg yolk vanilla seeds, zest and pinch of salt gradually with fingertips over a well of flour until it comes together into coarse breadcrumbs foam. Add the cold water. Pat the mixture together to form a dough. Minimize the movement of the dough o keep it flaky. Wrap it with a clingfilm and refrigerate it for an hour.
• Roll the pastry out into an 11-inch circle or cut it into slices of your desired pastry thickness. Line the pastry over a loose-bottomed flan tin. Gently press the pastry up against the sides of the tin and trim the excess dough over the edge. Use a fork to prick the bottom of the pastry shell.
• Place the pastry in the freezer for 1 hour to avoid it from shrinking.
• Fill the pastry mould with dried beans over a greaseproof paper in between. Bake the pastry blind over 180C for 12 minutes until cooked.

Lemon Curd

1 cup of fresh lemon juice

zest of 4 lemons, grated

1 cup of caster sugar

5 eggs and 4 yolks

60g unsalted butter, softened

• Fold in lemon juice, zest, sugar, eggs and yolks into a thick-bottomed pan and whisk over a very low heat or on a pan of simmering water. Whisk constantly for about 5 minutes or until the mixture start to thicken then stir in butter. Continue whisking until the mixture nicely coats the back of a wooden spoon like thick custard. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool down a bit.
• Give the curd a final whisk when it is still lukewarm then pour it through a fine sieve into the pastry mould. Spread the curd out evenly with a spatula and shake gently so the mixture stays nice and flat.
• Bake the tart for 10-12 minutes or until the filling is well set but not browned.
• Leave it cool down on a wire rack on the side while proceed to prepare the meringue topping.

Meringue Topping

5 -7 egg whites

150g caster sugar

• Beat the egg whites to peaks with the sugar.
• Pour the meringue over the tart and peak it with a fork. Caramelize it with a blowtorch or back into the oven for 5-7 minutes until it turned lightly golden.

 Here’s truly a paradise on earth for the summer!

Tips from Jamie Oliver on the pastry: 

Once the tart shell is baked blind, brush the inside with a little egg white and bake it again in the oven for another 30 secs. This will give the tart shell a nice waterproof layer and protect it from a moist filling.