Cook and Drink

The key to a tasty lemon pie is the quality of the lemon. Sounds obvious but unfortunately not every lemon is tart, aromatic and a touch sweet. Best are lemons used for limoncello: Sorrento (or Femminello), Eureka, Amalfi or Lisbon lemons. In all cases the lemons must be fresh, vibrant yellow, firm, untreated and organic.
The lemons we used needed a small aromatic push, that’s why we added one mandarin to the filling.
This recipe is for a classic tarte au citron or lemon pie. You could also make it with lemon curd, which we will do in a few weeks. 

What You Need 

• Pâte Sucrée
  • 50 grams of Unsalted Butter
  • 40 grams of Caster Sugar
  • 125 grams of All Purpose Flour
  • 1 gram of Salt
  • 1 Organic Egg
  • Water (optional)
• Filling
  • 2 Organic Eggs
  • Juice and Zest of 2 Organic Lemons
  • Juice and Zest of 1 Organic Mandarin
  • 50 – 70 grams of Caster Sugar (depending on the flavour of the Lemons)

What You Do

1. Recipe for a 16 cm or 6 inch form or baking tin
2. Combine sugar, flour and salt.
3. Dice butter, add to the mixture and combine. Use a hand mixer with kneading hooks.
4. Beat the egg and add.
5. Use your hands to make the dough. It should not be sticky, so it must be easy to make a ball. If too dry, add just a bit of water. If too wet, add some flour.
6. When done, remove from the bowl and wrap in kitchen foil. Store in the refrigerator for at least two hours. It can be stored for a few days.
7. Flour your work surface and roll out the pastry to a circle larger than the top of the form. The dough should be approximately 4 mm thick.
8. Coat the form with butter.
9. Line the form with the pastry. Press the pastry well into the sides and bottom. Use a knife to remove the excess dough.
10. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
11. Preheat the oven to 190 °C or 375 °F.
12. Use a fork to prick small holes in the pastry.
13. Line the pastry with greaseproof paper or aluminium foil, add baking beans and bake blind for 15 minutes.
14. Remove the paper and the baking beans.
15. Reduce the oven temperature to 160 °C or 320 °F.
16. Transfer back to the oven for 5 minutes.
17. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool.
18. Mix eggs, sugar and zest.
19. Add the mixture to the pastry case.
20. Bake for 20 – 30 minutes or until set.
21. Transfer to a wire rack, allow to cool. Remove from the tin and allow to cool completely.