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This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie is Tartest Lemon Tart and was chosen by Babette of Babette Feasts. This recipe is on page 336 of Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Being a lemon dessert lover, this was an awesome pick in my opinion. In fact, I had already made this tart and posted about it here. I really loved the filling the first time, so I was excited to make it again. This time I wanted to try to make it into lemon bars instead of a tart. This proved to be successful, and I studded the bars with fresh blueberries after it had cooled. This gave a nice burst of sweetness amid the tarty lemon filling.

My filling was actually a little too bitter this time, I think my lemons must have had more pith than the ones I used before. I am sure my fellow bakers came up with some great ideas on how to reduce the bitterness. I will be on the look out for tips for next time. The only change I made to the recipe was that I used evaporated milk instead of heavy cream in the filling because I did not have any cream in the fridge. Perhaps the richness of the cream would have helped cut some of the bitter taste (or not, because I totally just made that up). However, I still loved these and will definitely make them again. The filling is so thick and luxurious and bursts with gorgeous bright lemon flavor. I would be interested in making this filling with other citrus, maybe a grapefruit next time.

I have said before that Nick and I do not enjoy shortbread crusts, so I made a Pasta Frolla. If you are not a shortbread lover, this is a great alternative for your tart crusts. It seems to stay more tender even after the long baking times and we enjoy the texture over a shortbread.

Overall, this tart is a winner. I can’t wait to see what my fellow bakers thought about it.

That’s about all I could muster up tonight. It’s 11:30 PM and I am writing this through tired bleary eyes. I’m out.

15 comments

# Kara on 05/12/09 at 08:15
The bars look great and would make it much easier to share among my co-workers! I also had the idea of trying this with a grapefruit ... I'm hoping to do it in a few weeks when H gets back from Phoenix. :)
# Jennifer (KPOW) on 05/12/09 at 08:37
I thought the same thing about making them with grapefruit.

Mine, amazingly, weren't bitter, even though they had a lot of pith. I must have been lucky with my lemon-picking-out, otherwise I might not have liked them as much.
# Teanna on 05/12/09 at 09:45
The bars look delicious and the blueberries on top look gorgeous! I like your idea of using sweetened condensed milk!
# sippitysup [Member] Email on 05/12/09 at 11:33
I have looked at sever TWDs today and love where you took yours! GREG
# pamela on 05/12/09 at 11:36
Hope you got some rest after finishing your
post last night. Nice job turning this recipe into
lemon bars. I can't wait to give my tart a try
tonight.
# Amy on 05/12/09 at 11:53
Your bars look delicious. Those lemon curls are so pretty!
# Wendy on 05/12/09 at 12:19
I love your lemon tart bar. It looks wonderful!
# Sophie on 05/12/09 at 12:47
MMMMM....sara! This tarte sounds divine!! It looks allready fabulous!!
# macduff on 05/12/09 at 13:14
Love this! And honestly, it was too tart for me, too. The evaporated milk idea is a good one...
# Bunny on 05/12/09 at 18:39
Very nice change up making bars and adding the blueberries!
# Megan on 05/12/09 at 21:47
Love the bars!

Too bad my tart ended up in the trash -
# Michelle on 05/12/09 at 22:31
Love your presentation!

I have a recipe on my blog for Lemon Graham Slice that calls for Sweetened Condensed Milk and it is excellent. I can only imagine the wonderful flavor it gave to your dessert.

# Nancy (n.o.e.) on 05/13/09 at 20:39
I'm really glad to know that the evap milk substitution works for this (I use it all the time for savory subs) and that the recipe makes great lemon bars. Such great info! And the blueberries are another great idea.
Nancy
# Margaret on 05/23/09 at 16:50
Great idea to add the blueberries. I love that combination. Looks delicious.
# john brightman on 05/30/09 at 11:16
HI
looks very interesting!
bookmarked your blog.
john brightman

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