Meyer Lemon Tart

Being in California, it seems natural to take advantage of the abundance of citrus around here. By chance, one of my favorite bloggers posted an Instagram picture of the lemon curd she was making. Since I'm staying at my friend's apartment in San Francisco this week, I figured I would make a lemon tart in return for her hospitality. Nick and I picked up some organic meyer lemons at the Ferry Market near the wharf. The marketplace is entirely indoors and consists of only the most delicious food stands. I picked up some local lavender honey and a zester for the recipe there too. We also got to try HOMEMADE yogurt plus granola! There was so much goodness at the market, we just wandered around for a couple of hours staring at food and sampling olive oils and other tasty treats.

What else have we been doing in San Francisco? Mostly eating and recovering from the stomach flu that my whole family got over Christmas. I'm trying to eat as much American food as possible (pizza, any mexican food, ice cream, etc). Some highlights were the lavender banana date smoothie I got, all of the most delicious espresso drinks made with almond milk, nachos from Tacqueria Cancun, and all of the French pastries I could ever want. Oh and $2 warm ice cream cookie sandwiches from a place called Cream.

If you're less interested in the food, we also saw some historical things. We went to City Lights Bookstore where Allen Ginsberg did a reading and we stayed at a quaint little hotel where he stayed at too. There was a Beat museum dedicated to him and his friends too. Nick was excited. I wanted more food. Sunset from the Sunset neighborhood while meeting Sylvia for Chinese yesterday.

Tomorrow night we leave for Manila, so we're spending the day hiking with our friends Cate and Sylvia in SF. I made a picnic and we got beers! Though we're having a blast and I love not working, we miss everyone and Twilly!! Hope you all are staying warm : )

Tart (from Ina Garten):

12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
pinch salt

Meyer Lemon Curd:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup lavender honey
4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
2/3 cup meyer lemon juice (5-7 meyer lemons)
1 tbsp meyer lemon zest


For the tart, cream together the butter and the sugar until mixed. Gradually add the flour and salt in small batches until completely incorporated. Press the dough into a 10 inch round tart pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour until very firm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a sheet of aluminum foil and place greased side down on top of the tart dough. Then fill with dried lentils. Bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil and lentils and bake for another 10 minutes or so until the crust is golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, make the lemon curd. Zest the lemons and then juice them. In a medium mixing bowl, cream together the butter and honey with a whisk. Gradually add the eggs while mixing. Then add the lemon juice and pour into a nonstick saucepan. Over medium-low heat, stir the lemon curd with a mixing spoon constantly. In about 5-7 minutes it will start to really thicken all of the sudden. My advice would be not to leave the curd on the stove by itself. Stay with it! The curd is done when you can lift the wooden spoon out of the curd and your finger leaves a trail through the batter. When this happens, turn off the heat and mix in the zest. Now you can pour the curd into your tart pan. I reserved about 1/4 cup in a mason jar for other purposes too (with some greek yogurt for breakfast tomorrow!).

Garnish with lemon zest and some pomegranate seeds. You can eat it as soon as it sets in about 2 hours.