Lemon Brûlée Tarts Recipes

LEMON BRULEE TART

Steps:

• For the dough: Add the flour, sugar, lemon zest and salt to a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Mix together for 30 seconds. Add the vanilla seeds and mix to combine. Add the butter and mix on medium speed (no higher than speed 4), until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
• In a small bowl, beat together the egg yolks and the rum. Add to the mixer, as the machine keeps running on medium speed; the dough will start to form. As soon as it starts to leave the sides of the bowl, turn off the machine. By hand, on a flat surface, work the dough into the shape of a disk and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter an 11-inch tart pan very well.
• On a floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/4-inch thick and gently lay it into the tart pan. Press the dough lightly into the round edges, then, using your fingers, press on the edges of the pan, cutting off the excess. With a fork, poke the dough several times, all the way through to the pan. Brush the dough with a thin layer of egg white. Bake, with a sheet tray on the rack below it, until the edges of the dough look golden and crisp, 25 to 30 minutes.
• For the filling: Whisk together the cream, sugar, yolks and eggs in a large bowl. Whisk in lemon juice and zest. Let rest while the tart shell bakes.
• Remove the crust from oven, place on a sheet tray and pour the filling into the warm shell. Tap gently on the counter to release any excess air bubbles.
• Lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees F.
• Bake the tart in the oven for 40 minutes. The custard will appear firm with just a slight jiggle in the center of the tart. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 30 minutes.
• To serve, remove the tart from the pan, sprinkle evenly with granulated sugar and use a torch to caramelize it. Repeat the final step twice to ensure a real crunch! Garnish with the powdered sugar.

LEMON BRûLéE TART

Steps:

• Roll out dough into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. Fit into tart pan and trim edges. Chill shell until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Lightly prick bottom of shell all over with a fork, then line with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until side is set and edge is pale golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until deep golden, 15 to 20 minutes more. Remove from oven and reduce oven temperature to 300°F.
• Whisk together cream, 1/2 cup sugar, zest, juice, yolks, and whole egg until combined.
• Put tart shell (in tart pan) on a large baking sheet and transfer to oven. With oven rack extended, carefully pour filling into tart shell (custard will still have bubbles on top), then carefully slide rack into oven. Bake tart until custard is set 3 inches from edge but trembles slightly in center when gently shaken, 25 to 35 minutes. Remove from baking sheet and cool in pan on a rack 30 minutes, then remove side of pan and cool to room temperature, about 1 1/4 hours.
• Just before serving, sprinkle remaining tablespoon sugar evenly over top of tart. Move blowtorch flame evenly back and forth just above top of tart, avoiding crust, until sugar is caramelized and slightly browned (be careful not to burn sugar). Let tart stand 5 minutes before serving.

LEMON TART BRûLéE

Steps:

• Blend flour, sugar, grated lemon peel and salt in processor. Add butter; cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in enough water to form dough. Turn dough out onto work surface. Gather dough into ball and flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Transfer dough to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Trim dough overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold overhang under, pressing to form double-thick sides. Freeze crust 15 minutes.
• Bake crust until pale golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool.
• Whisk eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, cream, lemon juice, peel and salt in bowl to blend. Pour filling into crust (filling will not fill crust). Bake until set, about 25 minutes. Cool completely.
• Preheat broiler. Sprinkle remaining 1 tablespoon sugar over tart. Cover sides of crust with foil to protect from heat. Broil l tart until sugar caramelizes in spots, watching closely, about 3 minutes. Serve tart warm or at room temperature.

LEMON MASCARPONE BRûLéE TARTS WITH RASPBERRY SAUCE

Steps:

• Make shells:
• Cut butter into 1/2-inch pieces. In a food processor combine flour, pecans, sugar, and salt and pulse until finely ground. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk and pulse until a dough just forms. Form dough into a flattened disk and chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
• Press dough (about 1/3 cup for each shell) onto bottoms and up sides of eight 4 1/2-inch fluted tart pans with removable rims. Prick bottoms of shells all over with a fork. Freeze shells 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Arrange shells in a shallow baking pan and bake in middle of oven 18 minutes, or until golden. Cool shells in pans on a rack. Shells may be made 1 day ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.
• Make filling:
• In a heavy saucepan combine butter, 3/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally until butter is melted. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring, and remove pan from heat. In a bowl whisk together whole eggs, yolks, and remaining 3/4 cup sugar until thick and pale. Add hot butter mixture in a stream, whisking constantly, and transfer to pan. Cook mixture over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until thick and just beginning to boil. Pour mixture through a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl and stir in zest. Cool lemon mixture completely, its surface covered with buttered wax paper, and chill at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.
• In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together mascarpone and cream until thick and smooth. Fold in 1 1/2 cups lemon mixture, reserving remainder for another use, until combined well.
• Divide filling among shells, smoothing tops. Chill tarts, loosely covered, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
• Make sauce:
• In a blender puree sauce ingredients and pour through a fine sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids.
• Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon superfine sugar evenly over each tart and caramelize with a blowtorch, moving flame evenly back and forth over sugar (not crust) until melted and caramelized, about 30 seconds. (Alternatively, caramelize sugar under a preheated broiler. If using broiler, cover crusts with pieces of foil to prevent burning.)
• Serve tarts with raspberry sauce.

LEMON BRûLéE TARTS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 8 (4-oz) individual baking dishes (ramekins) with cooking spray; place on 15x10x1-inch pan or on cookie sheet with sides. In medium bowl, beat all crust ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Press 1 tablespoon mixture in bottom and 1/2-inch up sides of each ramekin. Bake 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in medium bowl, beat all filling ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Over each warm crust, gently spread 1/4 cup filling to edges. Bake 20 minutes or just until filling is set. Remove ramekins to cooling rack; cool 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make candied lemon slices. In 2-quart saucepan, heat 2 inches water to boiling; place lemon slices in water. Boil 1 minute; immediately remove lemon slices and place in bowl filled with ice water. Let stand 1 minute; drain.
• In 8-inch skillet, heat 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 cup water to simmering over medium heat; place lemon slices in single layer on syrup mixture. Simmer (do not boil) about 45 minutes or until white part of peel is translucent. On cookie sheet lined with cooking parchment paper, place lemon slices; let stand 20 minutes or until cool. Cut lemon slices in half.
• Sprinkle 1 tablespoon demerara sugar over tops of each tart. Holding kitchen torch 3 to 4 inches from tart, caramelize sugar on each tart by heating with torch about 2 minutes, moving flame continuously over sugar in circular motion, until sugar is melted and light golden brown. Immediately top each tart with two candied lemon slice halves.