January 21, 2016

Velvety Lemon Tart, Remembering the Place that Saw me Grow

Natacha Sanz Caballero Desserts and Sweets citrus, lemon, lemon tart, lemons, tart

I grew up surrounded by orange trees. Almost literally! The name of the place was El Taroncheral, and the property, an expansive orange tree grove that included a large stucco dwelling and a circular basin where rain and well water for irrigation were collected. Eventually, three houses where built: I grew up in one of the houses.

Taroncheral, by the way, doesn’t mean anything. What I mean is that you couldn’t find the word in the dictionary. Taroncheral is the “Castilianized” form of the Valencian language word tarongerar, orange tree grove. It must have been the way the children —me, my sisters, and our cousins, who lived in the three houses— pronounced it and wrote it, that made it the name we all came to know the place for. I long for and miss those days, the smell of the orange blossoms that infused the air, the sight of the branches heavy by the weight of the oranges right before harvest, around this time of year, around Christmas time.

Yet, like anything one grows up with, I took it for granted. Slowly, some of the trees disappeared, and then, most of them. Let me explain. The land was a large orange tree grove when my father and his siblings bought the property. A number of trees had to be removed to build the three homes. The harvest of the remaining trees was so bountiful that most of the oranges were sold, after having collected crates and crates of them for family consumption. Eventually, even that was too many oranges, so Antonio, our gardener, made what it’s called injertos, grafts. Don’t ask me how the procedure is done, but the end result was, what once was an orange tree, started giving lemons! Then, something else happened, something I talk about in the Plums and Almond Cake post. Many, in fact most of the orange trees, were replaced by plum trees! I think it was an economic and environmental survival measure —orange trees need a lot of water, and after a few very dry years, many of the trees had suffered. The sight of the plum tree orchard was quite amazing, too, this time in the summer. Heavy branches, full of plums, almost in clusters that hugged the length of the limb —something to see.

The name of the property, like the names of people and places, though, didn’t change, and in fact there are still a good number of orange and lemon trees in the property. El Taroncheral was, and still is, the place of my childhood, where my heart belongs, and the aroma of orange blossoms, that of my memories.

Needless to say, many dishes made at home incorporated citrus, oranges and lemons, and then plums. The lemon tart I’m sharing today has a smooth custardy filling, and a crumbly, sweet but not too sweet (as is the way with most Spanish desserts) crust.

Bonus today! With the leftover dough, I made strawberry tartlets —posted separately.

 

VELVETY LEMON TART

Tarta Suave de Limón

Ingredients:

          For the Crust

2 cups flour

8 Tbs unsalted butter, diced and chilled

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup icing sugar

3 egg yolks

2 Tbs iced water (if necessary)

 

          For the Filling

3 large eggs

3 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1 cup strained fresh lemon juice

1 Tbs finely grated lemon zest

4 Tbs unsalted butter, diced and chilled

 

Method:

          For the crust:

In a large bowl, sift flour, icing sugar and salt. Add the butter. Using your fingertips, incorporate the butter into the flour mixture until it becomes crumbly.

Make a well in the center and add the egg yolks. Incorporate with your fingertips until a dough forms (if necessary, add 1 or 2 Tbs of iced water).

On a floured work surface, pat the dough into a 1-inch-thick disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 14 inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Ease the dough round into a tart pan with a removable bottom. Rolling the rolling pin over the pan will easily trim any overhanging dough. Prick the bottom with a fork, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven the 375ºF. Line the frozen pie with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dry beans. Bake for about 18 minutes. Remove the weights and the parchment paper and bake for about 10 minutes longer, until the edges become lightly golden.

Remove the tart from the oven and let cool for a minimum of 3 hours before filling.

          For the filling:

Reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF.

Place the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice in a bowl fitted over a pot of simmering water. Whisk for about 6-7 minutes, until the mixture thickens slightly.

Add the chilled butter, one tablespoon at a time, until melted and well combined with the rest of the ingredients. Remove from the simmering water and pour over the crust.

Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, or until the filling starts to set. Remove from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool.

Serve chilled or at room temperature.