Tarte Au Citron - truly Delicious, some Discoveries...and a few Disasters

This dessert seemed simple enough, although it had multiple parts to it. The ingredients were surprisingly simple. As the title indicates however, there were a few discoveries along the way, some disasters, but overall, the flavor was divinely delicious.

Tarte Au Citron:

- We used Meyer Lemons in this recipe (no particular reasons except that Whole Foods sold them in a bag of 6 which is what we needed). The rind is thin on these lemons so cutting the rinds off was a challenge, even while using the peeler. Fortunately, Tim did all of this work :)

- The pine crust was easy to put together using a KitchenAid Mixer and held up nicely. We refrigerated the dough before filling our tart pan. We didn't have a spring form one but ended up using a ceramic tart pan which worked just fine. Per Ei-Lun's tips, we made sure to cook the crust until it was well done. We did do one addition however, and that was to add a good 1/2 tsp of salt to the crust. I was surprised to see the crust didn't call for any salt. Although this is a dessert (and having the experience of working in a bakery) I know how important a little bit of salt goes in any type of pastries. Later on, when tasting the tart, I was glad we added it for extra flavor.

- The crust had a good melt in your mouth feel and is a crumbly type. But the flavor of pine nuts is just not strong enough to impart a crust that I would deem magnificient in flavor. As I ate it, I kept wondering if a graham cracker based crust or one made of a stronger nut flavor would have tasted better.

The sorbet was the easiest part of this dish. We "cheated" and used fresh squeezed orange juice we bought at the market. However, I don't think I would have tasted the difference between squeezing our own oranges. The sorbet was light, perfectly sweet, and citrus-y for our taste.

We made candied lemon peel since we had all those lemons for the sabayon. Since we used Meyer Lemons, the rind was thin and hard to peel off, let alone slice off into toothpick thick strips, but we (or rather, Tim) managed to meticulously hatch them all. The candied peel started off easy enough as the syrup was easy to prepare. However the recipe called for letting the rinds cool in the pan before you take the rinds off with a fork. I strongly disagree with this step. Similar to Ei-Lun and Kirk's experience, our rind stuck to the water bath as the syrup quickly crystallize. This step happened very very quickly so beware! We had to heat up the syrup again, but that little bit of extra heat took the rind over the top and crystallized the rind into hard pieces of candy. We put them over parchment paper without letting them cool in the pan this time, but it was difficult to get all the syrup out. If you can imagine, our rinds were not in neat strips but captured into crystalized hardened sugar water. Admittedly, we did not have a candy thermometer so we probably went over the 230 degrees. Despite all these mishaps, a few pieces over the sorbet ended up being quite tasty, although a bit crunchy :)

Sabayon Part 1 - this by far was the most finicky step of the dessert. The first time we made it, we followed the recipe to a T and used a water bath, cooking it over 8-10 minutes. Our sauce was thin, however, and never looked thick and smooth as it should have been. A quick search on the internet told us we had not cooked it long enough. By that time, we had already added the butter and it was too late to fix.

Intead of throwing away the sabayon (we had no lemons at the time to start over), I quickly remembered that mini tapioca pearls are used as a thickening agent in berry pies (I happen to love them in pies and had some in the pantry). We put the sabayon back on the burner and added two tbsp of the tapioca. After several minutes, the sabayon developed a nice thickness to it. We let it chill, poured it over the crust and used the broiler method. Later, upon tasting, we found the texture of the tapioca a nice touch texture wise to the tart and actually would consider doing it this way the next time.

Sabayon Part II - Since we had extra pine nut crust left, we decided to try making the sabayon again the next day once we got more lemons. I had read that a double boiler was not necessary and putting the sauce directly over low heat would work. Since our problem was too thin of a sauce from undercooking, I was interested in this method. The sauce did thicken more and instead of 8-10 minutes of total cook time, we cooked it at least for 20 minutes. However, the sauce never thickened to what I would consider thick enough to set even after adding the butter. Since we didn't want to waster the sabayon, we ended up putting it in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes which helped cook the custard. Next came the broiler step but beware, you HAVE to sit and watch the oven! I ran over to Alia to watch her and when I came back 1-2 minutes later, the broiler had put a crust similar to a creme brule crust over the tart. The custard did seem set however.

This second sabayon is in our fridge and I'll update as to the taste and flavor tomorrow.

Sadly, I don't think we mastered making a true sabayon the two times we tried. I'm not sure I am that interested in making it a third time! But if I was, I would cook the sabayon even longer than the 20 minutes and would definitely forgo the water bath as it did not seem necessary.

Overall impression: The flavor of the sabayon (although we didn't totally get it right) was divine, very tart, not too sweet, very fresh tasting. The pine crust had good texture, but not enough of a strong flavor, given the subtle taste of pine nuts. The sorbet was refreshing and light but Tim and I wondered about serving it with the lemon tart. Since the sorbet is "mushy" and so is the tart filling, it didn't seem to go as well together texture wise although delicious on their own. The candied peel was tasty and crunchy and a nice accompaniement to the sorbet, but I wonder if it was supposed to be "crunchy" vs. "chewy." Ours was definitely the former but without a candy thermometer, we'll never know if it was due to overcooking.

Pine nut crust is easy using a KitchenAid mixer

Weighing the dough into 3 parts helped ensured uniformity

Whisking a never-thickening sauce

Sabayon w/ tapioca - prebroiling

Sabayon w/ tapioca - post broiling

Crispy, crunchy candied lemon peel

Orange sorbet, tasty and refreshing

Yum, yum, yum

Tarte Au Citron et Sorbet D'Oranges Sanguines

This lemon tart recipe uses a sabayon method, in which the eggs are first cooked with the lemon juice and sugar over hot water, then the butter is gradually incorporated—an easy method that results in a consistently good lemon custard or curd.

The rich, tart sabayon is housed in a pine nut crust, then topped with a clean and refreshing blood orange sorbet, which, in turn, is topped by candied citrus peel.

Suggested Pairings: Sauternes, Muscat, Alsace Riesling, Alsace Gewurztraminer

Tarte Au Citron:
Serving Size: Eight

Butter and flour for the tart pan
1/3 recipe Pine Nut Crust (optional)
Lemon Sabayon

• 2 large eggs, cold
• 2 large egg yolks, cold
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 6 tbsp. (3 oz.) cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

For the Crust:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously butter and flour a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom and refrigerate it while the oven preheats.

Remove the tart pan from the refrigerator. Use your fingertips to press the chilled pine nut dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Trim off any excess dough.

Bake the crust for 10 to 15 minutes, then rotate it and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is golden brown. Remove the crust from the oven and let it cool while you make the filling. (There may be some cracks in the crust; they will not affect the finished tart.)

For the Sabayon:
Bring about 1 1/2 inches of water to a boil in a pot that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the bowl you will be using for the sabayon. Meanwhile, in a large metal bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks, and sugar for about 1 minute, or until the mixture is smooth.

Set the bowl over the pot and, using a large whisk, whip the mixture while you turn the bowl (for even heating). After about 2 minutes, when the eggs are foamy and have thickened, add one-third of the lemon juice. Continue to whisk vigorously and, when the mixture thickens again, add another one-third of the lemon juice. Whisk until the mixture thickens again, then add the remaining lemon juice. Continue whisking vigorously, still turning the bowl, until the mixture is thickened and light in color and the whisk leaves a trail in the bottom of the bowl. The total cooking time should be 8 to 10 minutes.

Turn off the heat and leave the bowl over the water. Whisk in the butter a piece at a time. The sabayon may loosen slightly, but it will thicken and set as it cools. Pour the warm sabayon into the tart crust and place the pan on a baking sheet.

Preheat the broiler. While the sabayon is still warm, place the tart under the broiler. Leaving the door open, brown the top of the sabayon, rotating the tart if necessary for even color; this will take only a few seconds, so do not leave the oven. Remove the tart from the broiler and let it sit for at least 1 hour before serving. Serve at room temperature or cold.

Optional Accompaniments:

Pine Nut Crust
Note: Yields three crusts - because this dough uses only one egg, it is difficult to make in a smaller quantity. Freeze the extra dough for another time.

• 10 oz. (2 cups) pine nuts
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 lb. (3 cups) all-purpose flour
• 8 oz. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preparation:
Place the pine nuts in a food processor and pulse a few times. Add the sugar and flour and continue to pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl.

Add the butter, egg, and vanilla extract and mix to incorporate all the ingredients (the dough can be mixed by hand or in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment). Divide the dough into three equal parts. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before using. (The extra dough can be frozen, wrapped well, for up to 1 month).

Blood Orange Sorbet
Serving Size: One Quart

• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 cups strained blood orange juice or fresh orange juice (from about 12 oranges)

Preparation:
Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Transfer to a medium bowl and allow the syrup to cool to room temperature. Add the orange juice and refrigerate until cold.

Transfer to an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Candied Citrus Peel
Serving Size: 1 Cup (200 G), Drained

• 4 large lemons or oranges, preferably unsprayed
• 2 cups (500 ml) water
• 1 cup (200 g) sugar
• 1 tbsp. light corn syrup
• Pinch of salt
  

Preparation:
With a vegetable peeler, remove strips of peel 1 inch (3 cm) wide from the lemons or oranges, cutting lengthwise down the fruit. Remove just the colorful outer peel, leaving behind the bitter white pith. Using a very sharp chef's knife, slice the peel lengthwise into very thin strips no wider than a toothpick.

Put the strips of peel in a small, nonreactive saucepan, add enough water to cover them by a few inches, and bring to a boil. Reduce to a gentle boil and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, strain the peel, and rinse with fresh water.

Combine the 2 cups (500 ml) water, sugar, corn syrup, and salt in the saucepan. Fit the pan with a candy thermometer and bring to a boil. Add the blanched peel, reduce the heat, and cook at a very low boil for about 25 minutes, until the thermometer reads 230°F (110°C). Turn off the heat and let the peel cool in the syrup.

Once cool, lift the peel out of the syrup with a fork, letting the syrup drain away, and serve atop ice cream or sorbet.

Recipe Sources:
Bouchon, 2004
The Perfect Scoop, 2007