Comments on: whole lemon tart

By: Kitty

Kitty — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:30:13 +0000

I recently made this twice. I like it (obviously, I guess, or I would not have made it two times), and totally agree that it is better when completely chilled. The first time I made it we were bothered by an aftertaste similar, but not as intense as the one some other folks described. I used Meyer lemons, so I am not sure why this happened. The first night we ate it the tart had cooled for several hours and the taste was a definite irritation. I thought I would not make it again. Over the next few days as the pie sat in the fridge and became very chilled, it seemed to mellow and was good enough to convince me to try again. The second pie is tastier, but it has two definite layers of filling. There is a thin layer on top that seems to be a combination of sugar and bits of peel, etc, from that rose up and floated. The bottom layer is highly creamy and silky, very pudding-like. The taste is great!

By: deb

deb — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 02:09:56 +0000

Mindi -- Ack, you are not! An earlier version of this recipe might have suggested that you use Dorie Greenspan's tart dough. I've since moved onto my own, almond-free, that I prefer. Nevertheless, you are not out of luck, I still have the recipe up over here.

By: Mindi

Mindi — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:32:17 +0000

Deb- I swear I have made this tart from you, from this site with a crust that had almond meal in it…. Am I losing it??

By: Ruth

Ruth — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:41:19 +0000

I also had some problems which seem to have been happening before the recipe revamp but my tart was still very sticky after 40 minutes although the top was very browned. It was also fairly bitter, which I assume is from the white parts being included. I even tried this recipe again and it happened again! Will chalk it up to experience and move on :) onto more lemon tarts, have 40 lemons to get through!

By: deb

deb — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 19:57:13 +0000

Hi NYC — Sorry you had trouble. This recipe was updated last year with additional eggs that seemed to fairly consistently keep the tart from curdling. Were you working with the version with 4 eggs? I sometimes parbake the crust, other times do not, and don’t mind it either way. The filling is wet but it never seems to make the crust too soggy for my tastes.

By: NYC

NYC — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 18:29:37 +0000

Made this today and had some problems. The filling was curdled and the shell baked way too fast for the tart. I now see from the pictures that yours was par baked. (I used your non shrink tart dough recipe) That isn’t in the recipe and wish i knew that before. I foiled the top to stop the edges from burning – they still look pretty dark. Hope it tastes ok. We will find out after Christmas dinner. I also added candied lemon slices to the top using Martha Stewart’s recipe.

By: Brittany

Brittany — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 16:39:25 +0000

Hi Deb, How would you go about adding cranberries to this. I made this last time and it was great, and I would love to add a cranberry flavor. How much extra sugar would you estimate?

By: Bill Maxey

Bill Maxey — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 16:38:15 +0000

Novice baker here, so why did I attempt to make 2 of these when I only have one tart pan? But I made the crusts according to your recipe and they look great! Just filled both and popped them into the oven–extra 5 minutes cooking time perhaps?

By: deb

deb — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:54:00 +0000

You can use either but pie crusts shrink more if par-baked (it’s the water content). You don’t need dry beans, you could just use pennies or other loose change from a jar. Tarts have slightly more cookie-like crusts, which hold up better to wet ingredients.

By: Dalia

Dalia — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:23:14 +0000

please say yes :)