Easter Lemon Tartlet
Ingredients
- 150 g raspberries
- 50 g sugar
- 20 ml water
- 1 small vanilla pod or 2 drops vanilla extract
For the lemon curd:
- 4 large free-range egg yolks (beaten)
- 350 g caster sugar
- 110 g unsalted butter
- 4 lemons (juice and zest)
For the pastry:
- 100 g butter (at room temperature)
- 75 g sugar
- 1 egg
- few drops of almond extract
- 125 g plain flour
- 25 g ground almonds
For the crème chantilly:
- 285 ml cream
- 1 vanilla pod (sliced down the middle)
- 20 g icing sugar
Method
- For the Pastry:
- Whisk together the
butter, sugar, almond essence and egg in a bowl for one minute. Sieve in
the flour and ground almonds and stir gently. Bring it to a ball shape
and wrap the dough in clingfilm and place in the fridge to chill for at
least two hours.
- For the Lemon Curd:
- Place the egg yolks,
sugar, butter, lemon juice and zest in a bowl. Place the bowl over a
saucepan of simmering water and whisk occasionally until the curd has
thickened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely.
- For the Crème Chantilly:
- To make the Chantilly
cream, whisk the fresh cream until it forms thick folds. Stir in the
vanilla seeds from the sliced pod and the sieved icing sugar. Leave to
chill in the fridge.
- For the Autumn Berries:
- Place the sugar and
water in a heavy based saucepan with the vanilla pod (or extract). Bring
to the boil on a medium to high heat until the sugar dissolves and cook
for two minutes. Pour the syrup over the raspberries and stir gently,
then set aside to cool.
- To Make the Tartlets:
- Pre-heat the oven to
180ºC/Gas 4. Grease 4 individual tartlet moulds (or one medium sized
tart tin). Roll the chilled pastry on a floured surface and line each of
the tartlet tins with the pastry and chill them in the fridge for
another 20 minutes for best results.
- Bake the tartlets in
the pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes until the pastry is a pale golden
colour and remove and leave to cool. Divide the lemon curd between the
four pastry cases and spread the mix evenly.
- To Serve:
- Place the tartlet on a plate with a spoonful of the poached raspberries and some crème chantilly.
