Baked lemon tart

by Ed Halmagyi

Ingredients

  • 50g icing mixture
  • 230g plain flour
  • 75g unsalted butter
  • 9 eggs
  • 1 Tbsp soda water
  • 180g caster sugar
  • 120ml lemon juice
  • 3 lemons, washed and zested
  • 200ml double cream

Instructions

1 Preheat oven to 200°C. Sift the icing sugar and flour in a bowl then rub in the butter using fingertips. Add 2 eggs and the soda water and mix lightly until a smooth dough forms. Press out to a disc then freeze briefly.
2 Roll the pastry to 3mm thick, then line into a 24cm flan tin. Line with foil, weight down with baking beans, and bake for 14 minutes until just golden. Remove the beans and foil then beat one egg and brush the inside of the pastry. Bake for 1 minute, then brush again. Repeat twice more until the pastry is well-glazed and moisture-proof.
3 Reduce oven to 160°C. Gently stir the remaining eggs, caster sugar, juice, zest and double cream into a large heatproof bowl. Set over a pot of barely simmering water and stir constantly until very warm to touch and beginning to thicken.
4 Place the tart shell in the centre of the oven then pour in the lemon filling. Bake 10-15 minutes, until just set. The tart should be slightly wobbly in the centre. Cool slightly before serving.