Now, we are in autumn and I think that our summer memories warms our hearts in these days. July 27th was our first wedding anniversary and we decided to spend it in the Eternal City, Rome, eternal for its beauty and history. Maybe we feel a little “eternal” too after 10 years of being together and building our story day after day in all its beauty, between ups and downs.
The dessert that best represents us we tried together our first time in Paris, the tarte au citron: the secret is the crunchy pastry crust and the balance between the sweetness of the meringue and the acidity of the delicious lemon cream. I give you my recipe 😉
Stay tuned!
Sara
S’ tarte au citron
Ingredients for the pastry crust
- 125 g soft butter (at room temperature)
- lemon zest (1)
- 100 g granulated white sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 g salt
- 250 g all-purpose flour
- 2 g baking powder
Procedure
In a bowl, with the hand mixer beat the soft butter and sugar until they are smooth and fluffy. Add, first, the beaten egg with the salt, then, the all-purpose flour and baking powder. Cover the pastry crust and put it in a refrigerator for 1 hour to chill. Take it out from the fridge and roll out the dough to a thickness of 0,5 cm. Transfer the pastry crust to your pie or tart pan (22 cm) and, using your fingertips, evenly press the pastry onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
Ingredients for frangipane
- 55 g soft butter (at room temperature)
- lemon zest (1/2)
- 55 g powdered sugar
- 43 g yolk (about 2)
- 1 g salt
- 47 g all-purpose flour
- 18 g almond flour
- 35 g egg white (circa 1 )
- 10 g white granulated sugar
Procedure
In a bowl, with the hand mixer beat the soft butter, lemon zest and powdered sugar until are smooth and fluffy; start adding the yolk with the salt, then, the all-purpose flour and almond flour. In another bowl, with the hand mixer beat the egg white and sugar until looks like softly whipped cream. Add the batter in 2 times, then pour half frangipane into the chocolate tart and bake at 170°C (338 F) about 25 min.
Ingredients for lemon cream
- 60 g milk
- 137 g egg
- 50 g granulated white sugar
- 60 g lemon juice
- 125 g white chocolate
- 25 g butter
Procedure
Chop the white chocolate and place it in a tall jug. Heat the milk with the eggs and the sugar in a saucepan until they almost thicken: put the mixture in the jug with the chocolate and blend the cream with the immersion blender, pour in the lemon juice and then the butter. Leave to rest for about an hour.
Ingredients for Italian meringue
- 50 g water
- 140 g white granulated sugar
- 27 g white granulated sugar
- 83 g egg white
Procedure
Put the sugar and water into a small saucepan over a medium heat with a thermometer resting in the liquid. Start to slowly whisk the egg whites either in a stand mixer or with a hand-held electric whisk until just starting to foam. Heat the sugar until it reaches 121°C then slowly pour into the egg whites whilst still whisking. Turn the whisk up to full speed and whisk until cooled to room temperature – the meringue is now ready to use.
Pour the lemon cream on the pastry tart and then decorate with the meringue as you like: I modeled the Italian meringue with a spatula and then flamed it a little. The great balance between sweetness and acidity will surprise you: “if it’s love, no one else could do it better”.
Remember, #bakeforlife! 😉
