Tarrrrrrte au Citron

I love Thanksgiving leftovers, especially when they involve giant vats of collards, but it's a little sad not to cook for days on end, and anything gets boring after five days. Fortunately, I think tonight we might finally finish up the Thanksgiving food.

I just made a lemon tart. Ever since you gave me that tart ring last year I've been searching for the perfect lemon tart recipe. Julia Child's is too difficult, involving a layer on top of paper-thin lemon slices boiled in sugar syrup, and too little filling underneath to skip that step. The Joy of Cooking's uses 8 eggs, which I think is too many. Gourmet insists on using two 8-inch tart shells instead of one regular 10-inch one, and the tarts are too puffy. Other recipes I've seen call for only egg yolks, and I would like to avoid the waste. So tonight's recipe is from the old Silver Palate cookbook, one of Lawson's favorites. It called for 6 eggs, which made too much filling. It also called for butter...we'll see if I like how that tastes. The tart is beautiful -- quite brown around the edges, and fairly firm for what is basically a big custard. I think it'll chill nicely. I buried a few thin lemon slices in sugar and will put them on top tomorrow.

The tart is for my coworker's birthday tomorrow...she likes good food.

Update: The tart was a bit tart, but it was lovely. Next time, less lemon juice and one less egg.

And here it is.