8.4.08

twd: lemon cream tart

by the stroke of the seasonal luck, when i went to fairway this weekend to buy lemons for this week's tuesdays with dorie, the meyer lemons were back in stock! i first spotted them in february, but hadn't seen them recently and was begrudgingly paying $1.50 for each pair of plain measly thick-skinned lemons. but here they were in all their gorgeous orange-yellow soft juicy glory and i bought a whole bagful. so be ready for lotsa lemon posts :)

first is the lemon cream tart by dorie, inspired by pierre hermé (who isn't inspired by him?), with a pâte sablée dough.


hermé's lemon cream (and dorie's recipe) is pretty much a traditional lemon curd, but with the butter added at the end, after the double boiling of the sugar, eggs, and lemon juice. according to dorie's description, emulsifying the butter like this creates a "velvety light" texture.

who doesn't want velvety light lemon curd?


and what beautiful fragrance the meyer zest made! i was in lemon heaven.


continued to whisk in the double boiler until 175F, thick and whisk tracking. moved to adding the butter. looks light and airy with lots of bubbles. i set it in the fridge sunday night. come home monday evening, i take a look, and it's fairly thick.

or so it seemed! i whisked it loosely as prescribed but then proceeded to pour it into the tart shell. that's right ladies and gents, it poured. no spoons need apply! if you need a lemony crème anglaise, i got what yous need. but a tart curd? uhh, just move along folks, nothing here to see.

this was obviously beyond set-able in the proper sense. so i popped it in the freezer for a little over an hour to get it to firm up in the fastest, easiest way i knew how. it came out manageable. and absolutely velvety light and delish. no complaints on the taste at all, one of the best i've had. but a couple of photos later, and it was already melting.

which i'm sad to say because i've now tried five dorie recipes and have been unhappy with all of them. sometimes with the taste and sometimes with the mechanics and end result. of course it could be me, i'm a newbie, what good do i know? but i've been happy with many other baking recipes so it can't be that i'm totally ill-equipped and incompetent.

then again, many other people out there thoroughly enjoy her book and have great success with her recipes. but baking chemistry is more than just what goes on in the oven, right? it's also the relationship between the teacher and the student. so i (somewhat) look forward to trying more, but it may just be that dorie isn't the right lady for me :(

for the lemon cream tart recipe, click here.

to see the list of other lovely tuesdays with dorie bakers, click here!




oops! all three photos have a different yellow hue. pardon my complete lack of post-processing skills ;)

24 comments:

  1. I'm in the same boat as you. I've been disappointed by most of the Dorie recipes that I've tried so far. This one happened to turn out well for me but last week's had me wanting to toss her book off my balcony.

    But anyway, I love how dark your tart shell is. I bet it was delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well the lemon soup looks pretty when it's held inside the tart shell! It will be interesting to see if the others were able to get it to set. It's funny how sometimes things just don't turn out how they're supposed to even if you follow the instructions to a T!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love your pics of the zest and the butter. I couldn't believe all that butter! It looks delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mine didn't set either! I made the orange cream version. I'm glad it was not just me! I ended up folding mine into some whipped cream and it was gorgeous! Beautiful pictures by the way!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Meyer lemons! I bet your kitchen smelled heavenly. Mmmmmmmmm.

    Rebecca
    http://www.ezrapoundcake.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Too bad about your misadventures with Dorie. I have to say I enjoyed all the recipes of hers I've tried so far. Your tart still looks pretty delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Looks delicious even though it's a tad runny!

    ReplyDelete
  8. So sorry it didn't turn out. I'm a little on the fence with the recipes, as well. I'll keep trying, and hopefully we'll both have EXCELLENT results!

    ReplyDelete
  9. It is most unfortunate that you've not enjoyed your experiences with Dorie so far. Your tart still looks delicious, if that makes you feel better!

    ReplyDelete
  10. thanks everyone! i didn't want to be seen as a pariah in the TWD club! i'm sure that one (tues)day i'll do a recipe of her's that will come out fabuloso. but until then, i keep on trying! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh. What a drag to not be thrilled. Sometimes I feel that way about her too--but then I remember her 'world peace cookies' and give it another go. My cream set up, not very firm, but slicable (and delicious). Try the cookies above, and your inspiration will be renewed.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous8/4/08 20:31

    I'm sorry to hear of you disappointment with Dorie. I've had exactly the opposite experience. I love her books!
    At least it tasted good!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm soooo sorry for your disappointment. There are some recipes that turn out wrong, no matter how hard I try and do everything by the book, I just can't get it right. It's hard to put all that work into something just to be sad in the end.
    At least it tasted good!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Love your photos! They are so crisp and clear!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Looks fantastic! I wish they'd had meyer lemons when I went to the store...

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sorry you haven't had much luck with Dorie's recipes. Glad to hear that your tart tasted awesome though! It looks great!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Love your step by step pictures. Sorry the lemon soup wasn't so great :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Lemon creme anglaise sounds lovely, if not quite the texture you were striving for. I'm sorry that Dorie's recipes don't seem to be working out for you. Hope you have better luck with the remainder of your meyer lemon stash.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Great post! My cream was also pourable and I too put it in the freezer, trying to get it hardened. Press on. At times I feel as though these recipes are just not working well for me, but we are learning a lot and I am sure you find some that are *yours.*

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm sorry you haven't had good luck with Dorie so far. Your pictures look great!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Bummer about your dorie-disappointment. I love your perserverence though. That pile o butter picture made my heart stop! Did we really use that much? eep! LOL
    Clara @ I♥food4thought

    ReplyDelete
  22. Well it LOOKS fabulous! I also have some reservations about a lot of the Dorie recipes. So glad to know I'm not alone.
    Ann at Redacted Recipes

    ReplyDelete
  23. Aw, mine didn't set up either! Your pictures look good too!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I've read many "Dorie" posts in which the blogger would say that he/she wasn't happy with some of her recipes or that something went wrong. I haven't made any of her recipes so I can't really tell.
    That last slice looks great but I also like the one of the entire tart (no matter the hue) :)

    ReplyDelete