Thursday, March 25, 2010

Recipe: My Favourite Lemon Tart

Most foodies would be aware that we are into Singapore's inaugural Restaurant Week this week. Meant to be a great opportunity to indulge in fine dining without hurting one's wallet too badly, I signed up for one of the restaurant's dinner (intentionally leaving out the name of the restaurant). The three-course dinner was a pretty good deal for $35++ and the appetizer and main course were a bit pedestrian and I was looking forward to dessert - tarte au citron.

Now, I love a good lemon tart. What is there not to like? A bit of tang, a bit of sweet. My ideal one would be one served slightly warm, just to crisp up the buttery pate sucre crust that has been filled with light, luscious lemon curd, almost cream-like in texture. On the first taste, the slight acidity from the lemon curd would make me purse my lips and squeeze my eyes just a little. But then, nothing that the vanilla bean ice cream on the side could not counter. All in all, the perfect lemon tart is one about balance.

Alas, the one at the restaurant week was sooo sour it made my eyes shut, tight. Thanks to this rather disappointing lemon tart though, I remembered a more awesome one I had a couple of months ago. The lemon tart is actually not on the store's menu but is a little secret that regulars would know and have to ask for. I wish I could share the place with you but I promised my friend I would not divulge his little secret. Here's the picture though :)