Lemon Tarts

We took a trip over to Gordon’s for lunch the other day and, of course, I had to have a lemon tart.   As usual, it was a work of art.  But then, I kind of got a little cocky and thought, “Why couldn’t I make one?”.  Which is why yesterday my sous chef and I experimented with lemon curd.  I don’t know if Gordon’s fills their lemon tarts with curd, but the consistency seems right.

We started out making our tart shells.  Graham cracker shells were the way to go since that’s the way Gordon rolls.  This is the graham cracker crust recipe I’ve used since I made my first cherry cheesecake 40+ years ago.

12 to 14 Graham crackers, finely smashed

1/2 cube butter, melted

1/4 cup sugar

Combine all and press into tart molds.  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 10 minutes.

After a thorough cooling, we added the lemon curd we made yesterday.  Next, an additional chilling in the refrigerator.   The moment of truth finally arrived when it was time to decorate the top.  Gordon’s uses a combination of whipped cream and meringue, artfully piped onto the tart.  The raspberry coulis on the plate with the creme fraiche was beyond my scope today since I was going to be transporting the tarts, and I’m a coward.  So, I totally wimped out and just used whipped cream.

All in all they turned out pretty good.  I would definitely increase the butter in the crusts to a full cube.  My shells were a bit too dry; Gordon’s shells are almost moist.  My tart shell pans were probably an inch bigger and that inch really makes a difference when you’re making something as rich as these tarts.  I also put too much curd into each shell as well.  Can you ever have too much of a good thing?  I think not, except when each bite of lemon makes your eyes water.

I liked the challenge and I’m going to continue to perfect this recipe, meringue and all.  I love lemon and this could be a winner.

This is Gordon’s tart on the left.  I know, you’re totally shocked, you thought for sure it was mine.

and remember:  Whatever you want to do, do it.  There are only so many tomorrows.  Big kiss, Lynn