When you spend money to go for classes, you want to make sure you get the full value out of it - otherwise, you may as well just laze in your couch and watch the Food Channels on TV. Joycelyn's recent class on Fabulous Fruit Desserts, came with a generous pack of 11 recipes out of which she demonstrated 4 of them in class. I must say that I have been extremely good this time - for out of the 4 demonstrated recipes, I have tried to do 3 - including today's Lemon Custard Short Bread slice.
Joycelyn had made hers into bars and you can see her lovely photos here. I had chosen to work with a smaller portion, keeping the lemon custard layer less generous than hers - for a couple of reasons :
1. This is a lemon custard recipe with a mega acidity jolt. It's acidity is not for the lemon faint hearted.
2. I was working with a shallower pie pan.
A few more words on the tartness of this dessert.... I have a really high tolerance for tartness and acidity. I usually prefer my citrus fruits to be a little sour. Having said that, this Lemon slice really manages to deliver a fulfilling kick for me. For those who are less tolerant to sourness, you will be squinting your eyes when you bite into this. The tasting sample handed out in class tasted a little bit too eggy, in my opinion so when I worked on this recipe, I reduced the amount of egg yolk and am really happy with the taste. Though colour looks a little paler compared to Joycelyn's sunny yellow bars...
The base used is not the usual sweet tart pastry but a buttery short bread crust which offers an interesting soft crumbly contrast to the lemon custard.
This, would be another recipe for keeps.
Since I have modified the Lemon Custard, I will publish the recipe for the custard only.
Recipe for Lemon Custard
23g Plain Flour
150g Castor Sugar
95g Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Zest from 1/2 lemon
2 Large eggs
Salt Pinch
Method
1. In a mixing bowl, sift flour and add sugar. Whisk lightly to combine.
2. Add Lemon zest and Lemon juice while whisking lightly to combine.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs and salt to combine. Do not beat until frothy.
4. Add beaten egg to (2). Whisk lightly to combine.
5. Pour onto hot base crust and bake at 150C for 15mins.
Oh.. this is a very English tea time snack. I miss it very much. Wish I could have a slice of this now :P
ReplyDeleteIt looks quite a heavy dessert but not to worry, more of us can share and have a tiny bite each :)
ReplyDeleteI love TART and TARTS..This looks right up my alley..and how pretty is yellow?:)Never camera shy either!
ReplyDeleteHi Tigerfish, actually this does not taste heavy because of the sourness... and there is no fat in the custard but the sourness belies the amount of sugar used. So still needs to be careful.
ReplyDeleteHi Shirley,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the lemon custard recipe. I was hoping you will share, even though I knew it was from the workshop. I attended one of her ultimate chocolate workshop which has a short crust recipe. Thanks for providing another alternative to use the short bread.
I definitely agree with you that the purpose of attending workshops is to have the recipe, and to try it! I've yet to try some of the workshop recipes!:p
Hi Passionate About Baking- I shared it because I had already made modifications to her recipe. Out of respect for the chef, I will not publish her recipes... the line is always very grey..e.g. I have always asked myself if it is correct to publish recipes in other recipe books?Hence I will always reference the source of my recipes.
ReplyDeleteHi Shirley,
ReplyDeleteThanks. I have the same thoughts as you too! I also won't publish any recipes which I have learnt from workshops. :) It's so good of you to modify the recipe that you learnt to your own liking. I've yet to modify any workshop recipes that I have. :p Sure thing, I also like to reference to the source of my recipes, to respect the owner yah? :)
hi shirley
ReplyDeletei love lemon and this tart looks yummy to me !! thanks Pierre
Shirley, that looks lovely. About publishing recipes, I heard from someone close to the publishing industry that it is normally okay to re-print one or two recipes and give credit to the Author/publisher but not more than that... Thanks for sharing the modification though, I am pretty sure that should be fine! Looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteI love lemon desserts and this looks perfect for me. Looks very delicious.....mmmm
ReplyDeleteThankyou for the notes! I have a fried who absolutely loves the acidity of lemons and she would love this!
ReplyDeleteI bookmarked this recipe already. It looks too good for words!!
ReplyDeleteLOVE all things lemon, and this looks stunning...will definitely be going on my 'list'!
ReplyDelete