tart and more tart

I hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving filled with good food and family and/or friends. Dinner for us on Thursday was hosted by my brother and sister-in-law, so the only thing I had to do was make dessert. I decided to keep it light and simple with a French apple tart. I realized as I prepared to lay down the apple slices in a circle, that I had no idea how to do this. Do I start in the center and work my way out, or start at the edges and work my way in? I learned three things: 1. I need to create a step-by-step on this simple task; 2. It’s not as fussy as it looks; 3. When you put apples, cinnamon and sugar together and bake them, your house smells wonderful all morning.

Sometimes it’s good to mix things up, break from the traditional pumpkin pie. This seemed perfectly light, almost healthy after a heavy meal.

I placed the apple slices along the edge of the crust and worked my way toward the center, overlapping as I went. Then went back and filled in any spaces.

Michael returned from three weeks in Africa. I welcomed him home with a dinner of chicken enchiladas and this super easy, slightly tart, moderately sweet, lemon tart...

Attention lemon lovers: you can include two full lemons. 

I stopped at one and a half, and it was plenty lemony for me. 

Lemon Tart
Printable Recipe


Adapted from a recipe by Susan Branch

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Butter a 9x14” tart pan (or you can cut the recipe in half and use an 8” square).

Crust:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
2 pinches of salt

Place all ingredients into a food processor and mix until soft and smooth. Please evenly into the tart pan and bake for 20 minutes.

While the crust is baking, make the topping.

Topping:
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
4 eggs
Juice and zest of 1−2 lemons
1/2 cup unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
powdered sugar for dusting the top

In a kitchen mixer, beat eggs well. Gradually add sugar and mix until mixture is thick. Add all other ingredients (except the powdered sugar). Beat. Pour this mixture over the baked crust and return it to the oven. Reduce heat to 325°F. Bake 30-35 minutes until it turns golden. Cool and remove from tart pan. Sift powdered sugar over the entire tart. Cut into squares.