Best Lemon Tart in France

If you’ve been on one of our holidays before, the chances are you’ve tried this delicious pud, and here is the recipe - with the secret to the getting the perfect texture. It’s a bit like the Heston Blumenthal version, but without the thermometer, which isn’t necessary.

You will need a 23cm diameter non stick tart tin with a removable base, two mixing bowls, a saucepan chosen to support one of the bowls nicely, electronic scales and the usual other basic kitchen items.

All the ingredients we use in this recipe are organic, but use whatever you have.

Either use shop bought pastry or make your own: 75g butter rubbed into 150g flour, with one tbs icing sugar, a pinch of salt and a couple of tbs cold water to bind, rested in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Zest two lemons and squeeze 4 or so to yield 145g of juice. Crack 7 eggs into bowl number one, plus 2 yolks. This should weigh about 415g. Remove some egg white with a spoon to get down to this weight, or add more egg if required. Add 220g sugar, hand whisk a little to homogenize, then stir in the lemon juice and zest, followed by 240g single cream (30 percent fat content). Make sure the sugar has dissolved and that it is well mixed. Leave to stand while you bake the pastry - roll it out to your desired thickness and line the tin, prick with a fork, leaving the top edge untrimmed. Bake blind at 190 celsius for ten minutes, trim the top edge with a sharp knife and finish off in the oven; it should be just browning on the base. Turn the oven down to 140C.

Sieve the lemon mixture into bowl number 2, place over the saucepan, which contains two inches ( 5cm ) of simmering water, make sure the bowl is above the water. Stir continuously for about twelve minutes on a medium heat; the mixture will start to thicken - take it off the heat immediately, don’t hang about, pour into the pastry case and bake at 140 celsius for about twelve minutes, checking and turning to ensure even cooking. ( partially cooking the mixture before putting it in the oven reduces oven time and stops the mixture from separating into distinct layers, improving the texture ). When it has just set but retains a wobble, take it out to cool, and serve about three hours later at room temperature, with a dollop of cream, or raspberry coulis, or both.