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fresh fig and lemon cream tart

fresh fig and lemon cream tart

When I first saw these beautiful brown figs at the farmer's market, I knew I wanted to use them in a dessert. Because they were so fresh and juicy, I didn't want to bake them into a cake and lose their delicate flavor. Instead, I thought they'd be perfect as a topping on a creamy tart.

On the blog, there are a small number of recipes that I find myself making again and again (usually when I'm pressed for time or faced with an impromptu potluck or celebration that needs something great right now). These are the workhorses, the ones that come together pretty fast and almost effortlessly.These supernatural brownies, for instance, have never let me down. And of course, this lemon cream tart.

I first made this lemon cream tart a few years ago and have probably made it at least a few times a year since then. Even with my ever-growing list of new recipes to try, I can't resist but come back to this one — it's that good. The recipe comes from several different sources that I've meshed together throughout the years.


The lemon cream recipe comes from San Francisco's Tartine Bakery and their namesake cookbook. Tartine is a few blocks away from my apartment and is known for their giant croissants, hearty bread, and of course, long lines. Truth be told, I've always thought Tartine was a little overrated (UNPOPULAR OPINION, I know! San Franciscans — I can hear your shocked gasp now; sorry/notsorry), with the exception of their lemon cream tart. For that tart and that tart alone, I would brave the bakery's ridiculous lines.

What makes their lemon tart so special? It's that damn lemon curd. It's not so much a lemon curd as it is a lemon pudding, or even lemon cream. Lemon curd is traditionally made by whisking lemon juice, eggs, sugar, and butter together over a double boiler until it thickens. It's delicious, and a classic. However, Tartine deviates from the traditional method by first making a lemon curd with just lemon juice, sugar, and eggs, and then adding butter after the other ingredients have been combined. By blending in a generous amount of butter (and lord, is there BUTTER!) into the initial lemon curd, you're left with a cream that's smoother, lighter, creamier, and less tart than traditional curd. To wit — most lemon curd desserts need meringue or whipped cream to balance out the curd's tartness. Tartine's lemon cream does not. It's remarkable, and I've never had anything like it.


All this lemon cream goodness sits atop of one of the best brown butter pastry tart shells that I've ever made. This recipe comes from Paule Caillat, the founder of the Promenades Gourmandes Cooking School in Paris. Similar to the lemon cream recipe, I found this recipe on Food52 several years ago (although it has now been forever immortalized in their Genius Recipes cookbook) and it hasn't let me down yet. The tart shell has a wonderful flavor that reminds me of Scottish shortbread, and a texture so hearty that it maintains its crumbly, crispy nature against liquids like the lemon cream. And what's more, it's incredibly, incredibly, INCREDIBLY easy to make. No joke.

I usually think of pastry dough as something fussy and a royal pain in the butt to make, but this recipe proves me wrong. There's no chilling of the dough, or even rolling out the dough — all you need are your hands and a heatproof rubber spatula. No fancy equipment is needed, either — just a heatproof bowl and your tart shell, and you're good to go. I promise.

So what are you waiting for?! Just make this tart! I hope you like it as much as I do, because I'm sure you'll see this lemon cream tart make an appearance on the blog again and again in the next few years.



Some baker's notes:

• This crust is easy to put together, but sometimes it does have a tendency to crack here and there. Use a European style butter that has more fat than American butter (e.g. Plugra butter, and Whole Foods often has other brands including a generic version) to minimize cracking. If you don't want to bother sourcing European butter (which I often don't, because I'm cheap and lazy), simply reserve a pinch's worth of raw dough to spackle into any cracks when the tart is fresh out the oven and cooling on a wire rack. There's no need to bake again — the residual heat from the tart will bake the dough.


• When working with any citrus juice (or really, most acidic liquids), be sure to use a non-reactive glass or ceramic bowl or pot! Using a stainless steel or even copper will cause a reaction that will leave your curd tasting metallic. Since the lemon sits in the bowl for a long time, it makes a big difference in flavor when using a glass bowl.


• This recipe works best with a quick-read thermometer (FYI — I really, genuinely love my quick read candy thermometer), but you can wing it without one. Just keep whisk the lemon juice, eggs, and sugar for around 10 to 12 minutes, until the mixture thickens enough for a whisk to leave a trail behind.

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