Need a Little Sunshine? Bake a Lemon Tart

I recently received a wonderful surprise box full of lemons from my sweet blog friend Jenny Matlock, and I have been happily reaming, squeezing. and zesting them into almost everything I have cooked in the past few weeks, but this Lemon Tart recipe I found on The Joy Of Baking website took top prize! With just a few ingredients and an easy" press in" shortbread dough made in the food processor, this delicious and light dessert was the perfect ending to a New Year's Eve dinner and brought a welcomed taste of sunshine to a cold winter's night.

Lemon Tart

CRUST:
1 cup (140 grams) all purpose flour
1/3 cup (36 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (114 grams) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

FILLING:
5 ounces (140 grams) cream cheese, room temperature.
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 cup (120 ml) fresh lemon juice (approximately two large lemons)
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

TOPPING:
1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar

Lemon Zest - The yellow outer rind of the lemon that contains the fruit's flavor and perfume.
TIPS:
Always remove the zest first before halving and squeezing the lemon.
Use a fine strainer to remove the seeds and pulp from the juice.


Grease with butter, or a cooking spray, an 8 inch (20 cm) or 9 inch (23 cm) tart pan with a removable bottom. Set aside.

FOR CRUST: In your food processor, place the flour, sugar, and salt and process to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the pastry starts to come together and form clumps. Place the pastry in the prepared tart pan and, using your fingertips, evenly press the pastry onto the bottom and up the sides of the pan. (Can use the back of a spoon to smooth the surface of the pastry.) Pierce the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork. (This will prevent the pastry crust from puffing up while it bakes.) Cover and place the pastry crust in the freezer for 15 minutes to chill. (This will help prevent the crust from shrinking while it bakes.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.

When the pastry is completely chilled, place the tart pan on a larger baking pan and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 13 - 15 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool while you make the filling.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees (177 degrees C).


FOR FILLING: In a food processor or electric mixer place the cream cheese and process until smooth. Add sugar and process until incorporated. Add eggs, one at a time, and process until thoroughly combined. Add remaining ingredients and process until well blended and smooth. Pour filling into pre baked tart shell and bake for approximately 25 - 30 minutes or until filling is set. Transfer tart to a wire rack to cool and then cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least an hour.


TOPPING: Put mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer for 15 minutes. Beat the whipping cream and powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Transfer the whipped cream to a pastry bag fitted with star tip (#4B), and pipe stars over the entire surface of the tart. * I did not do this step but instead served each piece with a dollop of whipped cream, as it was only going to be my husband and myself eating the tart, but if I was serving this at a dinner party I would definitely pipe whip cream stars on top for a pretty presentation.

Refrigerate until serving time.


That's it! It was very easy to prepare and had a definite citrus taste that was not too sweet, not too tart.... very refreshing!

I'm adding this post to Mary at The Little Red House blog's "Mosaic Monday" event. Please visit Mary's blog today to see her beautiful vintage winter mosaic and links to many wonderful mosaics!

I'm also joining Mellow Yellow Monday!

Happy New Year to all!

Happy 2010!

"We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Happy 2010! I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years celebration!

When I worked nights as a registered nurse I always requested to work New Years Eve and Day so that I could have Christmas Eve and Day off, so I was never able to go to Times Square to celebrate with all the other revelers. Now that I am no longer working I don't think I'd be able to wait in the immense crowd for hours and hours in the freezing cold for that experience. If my husband and I don't go to a party on the eve we snuggle up at home to watch the ball drop on TV...we both prefer it!

I never make a formal list of resolutions, but I do reflect upon the year that has passed and look with hope to the year that is beginning, so full of possibilities. Always aware of how fleeting life can be, I try to keep a promise to myself to do something each day that makes me happy, to find joy in the little things and to put my faith and family first, above all else.

This New Year's Eve I made a delicious ragu which I served over a special pasta imported from Italy. My husband always associates this pasta with celebrations as it was often served at weddings in his hometown in Calabria, Italy.

We opened a nice bottle of robust red wine that my husband had received as one of his birthday gifts this summer, which we saved for a special occasion.

For a second course I made a savory smoked salmon and goat cheese tart, and roasted cauliflower with red peppers and capers. Both were served with the meat from the sauce.

Dessert was a tangy sweet lemon tart.

I will blog some of these recipes in a few days, as they were all scrumptious, but I'd like to take the time to give a big THANK YOU to a fellow blogger, Jenny Matlock, with the blog of the same name, who sent me a big box of lemons from her backyard tree in Arizona! I used some of them to make the lemon tart.

Just look at all these luscious beauties!

Thank you so much, Jenny, for sending a box of virtual sunshine my way this cold and snowy winter!

If you don't know Jenny please pay her a visit -- you'll be in for a treat! She is a wonderful writer with a delightful sense of humor, and every now and then she reveals a part of her life on her blog that will bring a tear to your eye. She is brave, honest and strong beyond belief. I am so happy to have found her, and I think you will be too!