Serves: 6
Difficulty: Hard
Active time: 1 ½ hours
Chilling time: 1 ½ hours
Freezing time: 1 ½ hours
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Storage: up to 2 days in the refrigerator
Culinary training school Ferrandi Paris sets extremely high standards for its students, earning it a reputation for being one of the best training institutes in Europe. See if you can go to the top of the class with this refined recipe for lemon meringue tart. Bonne chance!
Ingredients
For the lemon jelly
- 1/3 cup (95ml) fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp (30ml) water
- 1½ tsp (6g) sugar
- 1/8 oz (3g) agar-agar
For the lemon-flavoured sweet short pastry
- 5 tbsp (2½oz/75g) butter, diced, at room temperature, plus extra for the ring
- 1/3 cup (1½oz/40g) confectioners’ sugar
- 2½ tbsp (½oz/15g) almond flour
- 1/8 tsp (1g) salt
- 1 tsp (5g) grated lemon zest
- 2 tbsp (1oz/30g) lightly beaten egg (about 1 egg)
- 1 cup (4½oz/125g) flour
For the lemon cream
- 2 /3 cup (150ml) fresh lemon juice
- 2 /3 cup (5¼oz/150g) lightly beaten egg (3 eggs)
- Scant 2 /3 cup (4¼oz/120g) sugar
- 1½ sheets (1 /8 oz/3g) gelatin
- 5 tbsp (2¾oz/75g) butter, diced, at room temperature
For the Italian meringue
- 1 cup (7oz/200g) superfine sugar
- 1/3 cup (80ml) water
- Scant ½ cup (3½oz/100g) egg white
Directions
Making the lemon jelly
1Heat the lemon juice, water, and sugar in a saucepan until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a boil, stir in the agar-agar and let boil for 2 minutes.
2Process with the stick blender and then pour the mixture into the moulds. Freeze for 1 hour.
Making the sweet short pastry
1Fit the stand mixer with the paddle beater and add the butter, confectioner’s sugar, almond flour, salt, and grated lemon zest to the bowl. Mix to
combine. Beat in the egg and then the flour.
2When the ingredients come together in a ball, flatten the dough into a disk, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
3Butter the tart ring lightly and line it with the pastry. Place in the freezer to chill for about 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325°F (170°C/Gas
Mark 3) and blind bake for about 20 minutes. Allow to cool before assembling the tart.
Making the lemon cream
1Put the lemon juice, eggs, and sugar in a heatproof mixing bowl.
2 Stand the bowl over a pan of hot water and whisk constantly until the mixture has thickened. Meanwhile, soak the gelatin sheets in a bowl of cold water.
3When the lemon mixture reaches 140°F (60°C), remove the bowl from the heat. Squeeze the water from the gelatin sheets and stir in until dissolved.
4Add the butter and process with the stick blender until completely smooth. Press plastic wrap over the surface of the cream and chill for 1 hour.
Making the Italian meringue
1Dissolve the sugar in the water and boil to 240°F-250°F (116°C-121°C) – the exact temperature will depend on the type of meringue you need.
2When the temperature of the syrup reaches 230°F (110°C), begin whisking the egg whites in the stand mixer at high speed.
3When the required temperature of the syrup is reached, very carefully pour it over the partially whisked egg whites in a thin, steady stream, taking care not to let it touch the beaters, and whisking continuously.
4Reduce to medium speed after 2 minutes. Whisk until the mixture has cooled completely.
Assembling the tart
1Pour the lemon cream into the cooled tart crust, filling it to the rim but reserving a little to decorate the top of the tart, and smooth the top with a spatula or palette knife. Freeze for 20 minutes.
2Place the remaining lemon cream in a pastry bag fitted with the 1/3in (10mm) tip and pipe small mounds in the centre of the tart.
3Using the ½in (15mm) tip, pipe the Italian meringue in large mounds around the edge (see Chefs’ Notes).
4Unmould the lemon jelly domes and place on the meringue mounds.
CHEF’S NOTES FOR THE LEMON MERINGUE TART
When you have piped the mounds of meringue, place the tart in a 475°F (250°C/Gas Mark 9) oven for 3-5 minutes, until the meringue is lightly coloured and set.
CHEF’S NOTES FOR THE ITALIAN MERINGUE
For this method, the meringue is cooked by incorporating cooked sugar, followed by a few minutes in the oven to lightly brown it. The egg whites must be whisked until they are frothy, so as to produce a smooth, glossy meringue. If the meringue is to be incorporated into a mousse, the required temperature depends on how fragile the mousse ingredients are. For a chocolate mousse, it should be between 113°F and 122°F (45-50°C) and for a fruit mousse, between 95°F and 100°F (35-40°C). For creamy mixtures being ‘lightened’ with meringue, incorporate the meringue at 75°F (25°C), particularly if the mixture contains butter, such as a praline buttercream.
IMAGE ©BRUNO DE MONTE
First printed in our sister publication France Today
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hi,made this tart for Christmas. Very very delicious. I just skip the jelly for decoration, but even without jelly it came out very good. What to add? No information about the tart ring diameter..i used 18 sm, but i think crust came out a bit thick, so 20 sm will be perfect. will take a bit bigger ring if making this tart again, or maybe 2 tarts 15 sm diameter each. From the listed products for meringue you will get much more meringue than on the picture))) my tart was covered with tall beautiful meringue. I think its not necessary to put meringue to set in the oven, i just used torch and it was quite enough. And one questionable detail about the lemon cream. The recipe tells to chill it for one hour before you put it in the crust. 1 hour though is too long, gelatin will set too fast and it will be hard to move cream to the crust!!! so i put cream in the crust when it reached room temperature and put in in the fringe to chill altogether with crust, and it worked perfect.In my personal opinion gelatin as setting agent works much better here than any starch. in general, recipe is spot on. thank you for sharing)