Citrus and Lemongrass Tart

This is a citrus tart but not as you know it. This zesty showstopper packs a punch with lemon, lime, fragrant lemongrass, and bursts of finger lime pearls that pop on your tongue. Love those little flavour bombs.

I’ll fess up, I started out making this with my own coconut pastry recipe dough. I ended up freezing it to bake another day. I removed what I thought was the dough from the freezer to thaw a bit and started rolling it out. I was very confused as to why it wasn’t rolling out very well. I thought it was because it was a mix of coconut flour and plain flour and I hadn’t worked with it before. I ended up getting it rolled out and into the oven to blind bake and then a final bake. It was as hard as rock when I let it cool, so I had to “Pivot” (IYKYK). Not one to be defeated I ended up getting a pre-made tart from the supermarket.

Once I’d made this dessert, photographed it etc., I happened to be rooting around in the freezer for something, and I found another batch of pastry dough. Turns out I used a flatbread dough originally (Sigh). I’ll include the pastry recipe anyway and you can let me know if you try it.

Ingredients

Pastry Ingredients (Or you could just do store bought 😊)

150g plain flour

50g coconut flour

100g cold unsalted butter, cubed

40g icing sugar

1 egg

1 egg yolk

1–2 tbsp cold water (if needed)

Pinch of salt

Citrus Curd Ingredients

150ml fresh lemon juice

80ml fresh lime juice

Zest of 2 lemons

Zest of 2 limes

2 stalks lemongrass, bruised and finely chopped

6 kaffir lime leaves, torn

150g caster sugar

4 whole eggs

3 egg yolks

120g unsalted butter, cubed

2  finger limes (cut them in half lengthways and scoop out the pearls with the end of a teaspoon)

Pinch of salt

To decorate

1 tbsp. of desiccated coconut

3 slice of lime

Some finger lime pearls

Method

Pastry Notes: Makes one large 23cm tart shell.

1. In a bowl, whisk together the plain flour, coconut flour, icing sugar, and salt.

2. Rub the cold butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

3. Add the egg and egg yolk, mixing until the dough starts to come together. If it feels too dry, add cold water 1 tablespoon at a time.

4. Shape into a disc, wrap, and chill for at least 30 minutes.

5. Roll between two sheets of baking paper (the coconut flour makes it a little delicate), then press into a tart tin.

6. Chill again for 15 minutes before baking.

7. Add a layer of greaseproof paper. Add baking beans or rice and blind bake at 180°C fan-forced for 10 minutes. Remove the greaseproof paper and beans and bake for another 10 minutes until lightly golden brown.

Citrus curd

1. Infuse the citrus:In a saucepan, combine lemon and lime juice, zest, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves.  

2. Warm gently over low heat for about 5-10 minutes. Don’t boil or it will be very bitter. 3. Remove from heat and let it infuse for another 10 minutes. 4. Strain the mixture into a clean saucepan to the start the curd.

3. Whisk in the caster sugar, eggs, egg yolks  and salt over a low heat, whisking continuously until the curd thickens. If you don’t whisk it, it can curdle, so try and not get distracted.

4. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter. It should melt in the residual heat of the saucepan. The butter gives the curd a nice glossy shine.

5. Allow the cool slightly and the fold in the finger lime pearls..

   
   

   Spoon the curd into your pre-baked tart shell. Spread it out with a spatula. Refrigerate for at least 3–4 hours until set. Decorate with some coconut, lime slices and finger lime pearls.