Lemon Creme Brulee Tart
A tangy, light dessert perfect for summer
This is a tangy, light dessert that is perfect after a summer dinner. If you want to make it even more luscious, add a big spoon of whipped cream to each serving.
Ingredients
Crust
1 cup flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 teaspoons (or more) chilled whipping cream
1 egg white
Filling
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 cup whipping cream
4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon (packed) finely grated lemon peel
lemon slices and fresh mint
leaves for garnish (optional
Instructions
Make Crust
Combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and blend for 5 seconds. Add the butter and process until coarse meal forms. Add 4 teaspoons cream. Blend until moist clumps form, adding more cream by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather dough into a ball and flatten it into a disk. Wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough to a 12-inch round. Transfer to a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Fold overhang in, pressing to form double-thick sides. Bake crust until golden, pressing with back of fork if crust bubbles, about 18 minutes (small cracks may appear). Brush inside of hot crust twice with egg white to form a seal.
Filling
Whisk 3/4 cup sugar, cream, yolks, and eggs in bowl to blend well. Mix in lemon juice and lemon peel.
Pour the filling into warm crust. Bake until filling is slightly puffed at edges and set in center, about 30 minutes. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
Preheat broiler. Place tart on baking sheet. Cover edge of crust with strip of foil to prevent burning. Sprinkle tart with 2 tablespoons sugar. Broil tart until sugar melts and caramelizes, turning sheet for even browning, about 2 minutes. Alternatively, if you have a torch, you can carmelize the butter with much more control. I use a bernzomatic torch for this,
Transfer tart to rack. Cool until topping is crisp, about 1 hour. Remove from tart pan. Garnish with lemon slices and fresh mint, and serve.