Strawberry-lemon curd tart
David being away for awhile had me itching to get baking again when he returned, wanting to try something new and interesting. David had a request for something with lemon curd, which narrowed me field of choices, and I ultimately decided on this one because it combined two of our favourite things: lemon curd and strawberries. How could it go wrong?
Recipe
from Bon Appétit Desserts10 servingsCurd2 large eggs½ cup sugar3 tbsp fresh lemon juice¼ cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces1½ tsp finely grated lemon peelCrust1½ cups unbleached all purpose flour3 tbsp sugar¼ tsp salt½ cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into ½" cubes2 tbsp or more chilled heavy whipping cream1 large egg yolkTopping1½ quarts strawberries, stem ends cut flat½ cup strawberry jamCurd: Whisk eggs, sugar and lemon juice in heavy small saucepan to blend. Add butter and lemon peel. Stir over medium heat until butter melts and curd thickens to pudding consistency, about 8 minutes. Transfer to small bowl. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of curd and chill at least 2 hours.Crust: Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter; using on/off turns, blend until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add tbsp cream and egg yolk. Blend until moist clumps form, adding more cream by the tablespoonful if dough is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap and chill 1 hour. Roll out dough disk on lightly floured surface to a 13" round. Transfer to 9" diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Press dough onto bottom and up sides of pan. Trim dough overhang to ½"; fold in and press firmly, forming double-thick sides. Pierce crust all over with fork; refrigerate 1 hour.Preheat oven to 400 F. Bake crust until golden, pressing with back of fork if crust bubbles, about 20 minutes. Cool crust completely on rack.Topping: Spread curd in crust. Stand berries in curd, cut side down. Stir jam in small saucepan over medium heat until melted; strain into small bowl. Brush jam over berries. Chill tart until glaze sets, at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours. Remove pan sides from tart. Transfer to plate and serve.
Musings
A few notes on preparation: I made the crust by hand using a pastry blender instead of processor. I also cut the strawberries into slices instead of cutting just the stems off (the sizes of the strawberries were quite variable, so I thought this would hide that fact a little bit better). I also only used ¼ cup of jam, and that was plenty.It was a quite a tasty little dessert in the end--refreshing, with a nice juxtaposition of sweetness and tartness. The crust was super tasty, though a touch difficult to cut for some reason, but it really did taste like shortbread. A giant shortbread cookie with a lemon custardy topping and strawberries on top. D noted that a slightly thicker glaze might be nice, perhaps cook the jam down to thicken it up. I enjoyed the strawberries (mostly because I'm stoked strawberries are becoming available again!). This particular tart would work well with a host of other kinds of fruit (e.g. blueberries, blackberries or a mixture), which we'll have to try as fruit becomes cheaper and more readily available.