Josi S. Kilpack's Lemon Tart Recipe Review

You can get all of Ms. Kilpack's Lemon Tart recipes here, and if you want a really fun read, you can buy her book at Amazon or Deseret Book.  My revised recipe is at the bottom of the post.

Okay, so I started with the crust.  But after adding all the ingredients and pulsing, my dough never formed in clumps (could simply be the incredibly dry winter air?), so I went searching for solutions.   After checking out this one, I decided to add 1 egg yolk.  Still no clumps, so I added 1 Tablespoon ice water.  Uh, maybe the beginning of clumps, so I added 1 more Tablespoon of ice water.  That brought the dough all together--maybe adding one teaspoon at a time would have been better.  But not knowing what too much water will do to a crust, I'll never know unless I try it again.  I then wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and let it chill for 1/2 an hour.

Rather than pressing the dough into the pan (10 inch), I rolled it out (from past experience, I know that the more I touch the dough, the tougher it is, so I thought me + pressing = tough).  Be careful to only roll it out in a circle big enough to fit the pan or the pastry will be too thin.  It took me two times to do this (can you say, "No matter what I do I end up working the dough too much?"), and when done right, it is a beautiful thing.  To get a perfect edge, just roll your rolling pin over the top of the pan and remove any excess pastry.  I covered the crust with plastic wrap and put in the the freezer for fifteen minutes (on the baking sheet because with a removable bottom, a tart pan is a tricky thing to move), but pricked the crust with a fork after taking it out of the freezer.  Since I added the egg, before putting it in the oven, I covered the crust with a piece of parchment paper and filled it with dry beans to keep the crust from puffing up.

And now, doubting the recipe already and having cooked things in my oven at what seemed to me high temperatures and pretty much always regretting it, I reduced my oven to 350 degrees and cooked the crust for 25 minutes.  When the crust was done, I removed the parchment and beans.  Since I had a leftover egg white, I lightly beat the egg white with 1 teaspoon water and brushed it onto the bottom and sides of the crust.  Then let it cool on a wire rack.  (Okay, I'll be honest.  I threw away the first egg white, but the suggestion from the second recipe sounded so good, I cracked another egg and used that white.  But now I've got an extra egg yolk--so I saved it to throw into the filling!  Hah!)

For the filling, I followed the recipe except for the extra egg yolk and a pinch of salt.  And it's much easier if you remember to zest the lemon before you juice them.  Oh, and it took about 4 lemons for me to get 3/4 cup of juice (although I strain my juice so there is no pulp or itty-bitty seeds in there).  If you have any leftover lemon filling

I baked the tart for about 22 minutes.  It looks beautiful!  There was a small hole on one side of the crust that I was worried about--the filling leaking through and all that.  But it appears that it was not a problem.  As the tart cooled, the edges pulled away a little bit, so instead of putting whipped cream in the center (like the picture on the cover of the book), I piped the whipped cream along the edge to cover the crack.

Oh, I also rolled out the leftover dough and just baked that on some parchment paper with the crust.  There was some leftover lemon filling and I poured that into a little oven proof bowl and baked that with the tart.  That meant Dad and little girlies could have a little bit of a taste.  That's always nice when your big, beautiful dessert is going somewhere else!

MY REVISED RECIPE

Crust

1 cup flour

1/3 cup powdered sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) of very cold, unsalted butter--cut into small pieces

1 egg yolk

2 Tablespoons ice water

1 egg white, beaten with 1 teaspoon water

In a food processor or mixer, combine flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Pulse to combine. Add butter and pulse until the dough resembles cornmeal. Add the egg yolk and ice water and pulse together until a dough comes together. Roll into a circle, on a lightly floured surface, to fit a 9 1/2 inch tart pan. Lay into tart pan and press into the edges. Roll the rolling pin over the to to make a nice edge. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest in fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and prick the bottom of the dough with a fork. Cover the shell with a piece of parchment paper and fill it with beans. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove the parchment and beans. Brush egg white mixture onto the bottom and sides of the tart shell; set aside to cool.

Filling

5 oz. cream cheese

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3⁄4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2-4 lemons—DO NOT use concentrated lemon juice)

2 large eggs

Zest from one lemon (get zest from lemon before juicing)

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cream cheese with electric beaters until smooth. Add sugar. Mix

until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each egg. Stop and scrape bowl halfway through. Add the lemon juice, zest and salt and mix until smooth. Pour filling into tart crust and bake on cookie sheet for 20 to 30 minutes (mine cooked in 22 minutes) or until filling is set. Let tart cool

on wire cooling rack. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled.

Use whipped cream as an optional topping. It can be piped on in stars or served on top with each piece. For

extra flavor in the whipped cream, add a teaspoon of lemon zest. As my tart cooled, it pulled away from the crust a little bit leaving gaps. That's why I did a whipped cream border of stars around the edge--to cover the gaps.