A melt-in-the-mouth lemon tart with plums – a surprisingly perfect pairing! The rich filling, enriched with ground almonds and limoncello, sets this tart apart from a classic lemon tart. If I didn’t know the ingredients, I’d almost think it contained ricotta :). This plum and limoncello tart is truly delicious – served for dessert, it disappears down to the very last crumb. You’ll need a slightly deeper tart tin than usual, or alternatively use a springform tin and press the pastry halfway up the sides.
Ingredients for shortcrust pastry:
- 200 g plain flour
- 90 g butter, cold and diced
- 30 g lard*, cold and diced
- 60 g icing sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 2 – 3 tablespoons cold water
Sift the flour, then add the butter and lard. Rub or chop together quickly until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, salt and cold water, then quickly bring the dough together (you can also use a food processor). Shape into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill for 30 – 60 minutes.
Grease and lightly flour a 25 cm tart tin (3.5 – 4 cm deep), shaking off excess flour.
Roll out the chilled pastry to about 3 mm thick and line the tin. Chill again for 30 minutes. Dust lightly with flour, line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans (or rice/beans).
Preheat the oven to 220°C, then reduce to 180°C and bake the pastry for 15 minutes. Remove the baking beans and bake a little longer until lightly golden.
Ingredients for the filling:
- zest and juice of 2 lemons
- 60 ml double cream
- 100 g ground almonds
- 5 large eggs
- 100 g butter, melted
- 120 ml limoncello
- 200 g caster sugar
- 6 large plums, stoned and cut into pieces
In a bowl, combine the lemon zest and juice, cream, almonds, eggs, butter and sugar. Whisk gently until combined (do not whip). Add the limoncello and mix. Pour the filling onto the pre-baked pastry (it can still be warm). Arrange the plum pieces on top – the filling is quite runny, so some fruit will sink slightly, which is perfectly fine.
Bake at 180°C for 25 – 30 minutes, until the filling is set. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Dust the edges with icing sugar before serving, if desired.
*Lard makes the pastry extra crisp, but you can replace it with more butter.
Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food.
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