Comments on: whole lemon tart + strawberry tart

By: deb

deb — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 01:56:41 +0000

Hi Char — I’d agree that it is slightly less smooth than a traditional lemon curd; probably more smooth in a FP than you were able to get it, however…

By: Char

Char — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 01:47:57 +0000

Hi there – I’ve been reading your site for a few months and tried a couple of your recipes for a New Years Day brunch — the Whole Lemon Tart here and your Winter Fruit Salad. Both were fantastic, and I almost didn’t even get to try the lemon tart because it disappeared so fast! One question about the lemon tart – I don’t have a proper food processor or blender, so I wonder if the lemon curd is supposed to be perfectly smooth (the way it would be if you made it only with lemon juice). Mine (made with a slightly fancy hand blender-ish thing) had a little more texture to it than other lemon curds I’ve made — not in a negative way, but you could definitely tell there was peel in it — I’m just curious if yours turned out that way too. The fruit salad was great on its own and also made a nice accompaniment to David Liebovitz’s Fresh Ginger Cake (from Epicurious, Nov ‘99 – if you haven’t tried it, I highly recommend it, although I use less oil than the recipe calls for). Anyways, thanks for the recipes – I love your writing & photographs and always look forward to new posts.

By: deb

deb — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:23:51 +0000

It’s my pictures where the color is off (blueish light). Because there are egg yolks in pastry cream, it should have a yellowish tint. And if yours is extra-yellow, you’re probably just getting extra fresh, good eggs. (Extract will also increase the tint.) If it tastes good, run with it!

By: Symphonic Chef

Symphonic Chef — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 11:06:18 +0000

Deb, can you help? I’ve just made the pastry creme for the strawberry tart and while it tastes delish, it looks yellow, not white like in your pictures. Any ideas why? I’m sure it will be yummy, but the color kinda icks me out, whereas your tart looks so perfect, it almost looks like whipped creme… many thanks -Camillle

By: deb

deb — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 17:26:47 +0000

Yes, you should check out my Great Unshrinkable Sweet Tart Shell -- it's pretty reliably shrink (or virtually) shrink free.

By: Adrian

Adrian — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:16:40 +0000

Hi, Great site! I just wondering if you have solved the problem of pastry shrinkage. I have tried many shortcrust recipes and still struggle to get an even tart, so I would be very interested to know if you have discovered any solutions! Thanks.

By: patsy

patsy — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:08:04 +0000

I admit the “ick” factor is not logical. I’ve happily used starch in other recipes the thicken fruit liquids; just yesterday, in fact, in the blueberry crumb bars. I just think starch makes custard taste chalky. And, I’m lactose-intolerant, so I’d rather use cream than milk. Thanks for the advice, though. I’ll do some searching.

By: deb

deb — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:14:45 +0000

The starch is a thickener. The cream will not work the same. However, if you look around, you may find pastry cream recipes that don’t have starch in them (though I am, admittedly, perplexed by the “ick” part. Starch is natural.)

By: patsy

patsy — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:50:40 +0000

Would the cornstarch really be necessary if I used full on heavy cream in the pastry cream? Starch icks me out a bit. I’m trying to figure out the perfect birthday cake for my best friend who doesn’t like “rich” desserts, and I’ve narrowed it down to the crepe cake and this. Any other suggestions?

By: Sam

Sam — Fri, 15 May 2009 19:30:17 +0000

So I started out making the strawberry tart for a dinner party (three hours later). I just picked up some kumquats at the farmers market (so cal) and decided that I would chop them up and toss them in with the strawberries. As I was making the crust, my partner’s brother started talking to me and kept distracting me, so when I went to bake the crust, it was pretty much a disaster! Don’t let anyone distract you when you’re trying to make pastry!!!! In the meantime I made the pastry filling which turned out great; I added chopped kumquats to it and chilled it.I prepared all the strawberries and with 45 minutes left I went to make another crust. He did it again!!!! Wouldn’t leave me alone!!! Disaster number two and 20 minutes to go. SO, I whipped a cup of heavy whipping cream then folded it into the pastry filling – it made a beautiful mousse. I served it up in bowls with strawberries and more chopped kumquats. It was awesome!