If you love the fresh taste of lemon meringue and the crumbly, buttery texture of the tart, this is the perfect recipe for you. It only takes a few minutes to prepare the base of the cake with crumbled biscuits and a delicious cream based on lemon juice, egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk. Bake the tart in the oven and wait for it to cool completely before decorating and serving it.
Ingrediants
- 180 g of wholemeal biscuits (such as Graham Cracker)
- 65 g of granulated sugar
- 70 g melted butter (left to cool slightly)
- 240 ml of lemon juice
- 400 ml of sweetened condensed milk
- 5 large egg yolks
- 240 ml of whipping cream
- 8 g (1 tablespoon) of powdered sugar
- 5 ml (1 teaspoon) of vanilla extract
For a tart of about 22-24 cm in diameter
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Prepare the Tart Base
Step 1. Preheat the oven to 175 ° C and place the crumbled cookies in a bowl
Crush 180g of biscuits (such as Graham Cracker) in a large bowl. You can speed up the time by crumbling them roughly with the food processor.
Advise:
try replacing 60 g of crumbled biscuits with 60 g of toasted and ground almonds to give a varied taste to the base of the tart.
Step 2. Add the sugar and melted butter to the crumbled cookies
Melt 70 g of butter and pour it into the bowl along with 65 g of granulated sugar. Keep stirring until the ingredients are combined.
The mixture must have a moist and crumbly consistency
Step 3. Press the mixture into the pan
Use a spoon to spread the crumbled cookies on the bottom of a cake pan with a diameter of about 22-24 cm. Place the mold on a flat surface and press the cookies with your fingers or a flat kitchen utensil until they are level.
- Press the biscuits firmly to give a compact and uniform consistency to the base of the tart.
- The base of the cake should be about 1 cm thick.
Step 4. Cook the tart base for 8-10 minutes
Place it in the hot oven and let it cook until it turns slightly golden. When it smells fragrant and toasty, remove the pan from the oven and place it on a rack to cool sweets.
- Make the lemon cream while the cake base cools.
- Leave the oven on at 175 ° C.
Part 2 of 3: Make the Lemon Cream
Step 1. Squeeze 5 or 6 lemons
Cut them in half and extract the juice with the juicer. Keep squeezing until you've got 240ml of juice.
You can use packaged lemon juice, but it tastes much less intense than fresh
Step 2. Separate 5 yolks from their respective whites and place them in a bowl
Break 5 eggs and separate the egg whites from the yolks. Place the egg yolks in a clean bowl and save the egg whites for another recipe to avoid waste.
Did you know that?
In order not to waste egg whites, you can make meringues, pavlova cake, macarons or heaven cake.
Step 3. Mix the egg yolks with the lemon juice and sweetened condensed milk
Pour the lemon juice into the bowl that contains the egg yolks, then open the package of the sweetened condensed milk. Add 400 ml and mix the ingredients with the electric whisk until you get a smooth and homogeneous cream.
The sweetened condensed milk sweetens the cream and gives it the right consistency
Step 4. Spread the cream on the base of the tart
When it has cooled a little, pour it gradually over the base of the cake and level it with the back of the spoon.
Part 3 of 3: Bake and Decorate the Lemon Tart
Step 1. Bake the cake in the oven for 18-22 minutes
Check that it is at the correct temperature (175 ° C) and place the pan in the oven. Let the tart cook until the cream swells slightly along the edges. It should appear dense and consistent, slightly soft only in the center.
The cream will thicken further as it cools
Step 2. Remove the cake and let it cool for at least 5 hours
Turn off the oven, transfer the pan to the rack to cool sweets and let the tart cool until it has reached room temperature. At that point, cover it and place it in the refrigerator until it is completely cold.
advise: if you want to prepare the cake a day in advance, bake it, let it cool and store it in the refrigerator. Decorate it with whipped cream only when you are ready to serve it.
Step 3. Whip the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla
Pour a tablespoon of powdered sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla extract into a large bowl. Add 240ml of cream and whip it with the high-speed electric whisk. Continue until the cream is whipped to stiff peaks.
The cream will whip faster if you chill the bowl and whisk arms in the refrigerator before starting
Step 4. Decorate the tart with whipped cream before serving
Take it out of the fridge and decorate it with cream. Mount a star-shaped spout on the pastry bag and create your own decorations or use a spoon. When you are satisfied, cut the tart into slices and serve immediately.
If you have a few slices of cake left over, store them in the refrigerator and eat them within 3-4 days. Keep in mind that the whipped cream will gradually become less fluffy and light
Advice
- You can save time by purchasing the already broken cookies.
- If you prefer, you can use classic cookies instead of Grahams.
