Sticky Lemon Tart

After two crazy busy weeks it was great to return to NZ for a couple of days of down time and a bit of quality catch up with some buddies. Always on the look out for more delicious dessert ideas, and with a few lemons languishing in the fruit bowl, I decided to adapt the ever popular Sticky Lemon Slice into a dessert. Behold, the Sticky Lemon Tart; complete with Meringues on top - Little Miss and her buddies loved eating the spare meringues with jelly.

Sticky Lemon Tart

Tart Case
130g plain flour
40g icing sugar
120g butter

Cream the butter and icing sugar together, then fold in the flour. 

Find yourself a 25cm fluted loose botton tin, then spread the batter evenly around the bottom and sides of the tin. 

The batter is very soft, so just take your time spreading it evenly. 

Now take a sheet of baking foil and gently press it into the tin to hold the batter in place. 

Chill in the fridge for half an hour. 

Heat the oven to 200deg. C. and bake the tart shell for 15 minutes. 

Take the tin from the oven and gently remove the foil. 

Return the half cooked tart shell to the oven and bake for a further 5 minutes.






Lemon filling
180g caster sugar
2 whole eggs plus 2 extra egg yolks - reserve the extra egg whites to make the meringues
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
the zest and juice of 4 lemons

While the tart shell is baking make the filling: 

Beat the eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the remaining ingredients and beat briefly until combined. 

Pour the filling into the hot baked tart shell and return to the oven. 

Turn the oven down to 160deg. C. and bake for approximately 45 minutes until set. Once cooked it will still have some wobble in the filling.








The filling will have puffed up, but will fall on cooling. 












Meringues
2 egg whites
a pinch of cream of tartar
1/2 cup caster sugar

Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks appear. While continuing to beat the whites, add the caster sugar a little at a time until the mixture becomes smooth and glossy.

Place tablespoon lots onto a lined tray and pop into the oven with the tart. Cook until dried out and crispy. 





To assemble the tart: Once cool, use a mug or small bowl to sit the base of the tart onto, then pull the sides of the tart tin down to free the tart. 

Leave the tart tin base in place and put the whole thing onto a serving plate. 







Whip 200ml of cream until stiff. Spread the cream into the tart, then top with a stack of the meringues, find some plates and a knife, call up your buddies and serve.