Makes: 8 • Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
This lemon tart is a wonderful showcase of several products from the Portugal Box: Casa da Prisca cookies in the crust, Hands on Earth sea salt and lemon in the custard filling, and FrutaFormas apple rings in the garnish. If you have mini pie pans on hand, the lemon tart recipe can easily be adapted to make individual portions.
INGREDIENTS
Lemon Tart:
- One 2.8 oz. box Casa Lucena lemon cookies
- 3 Tbsp. butter, melted, plus 1 Tbsp.
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 egg
- ¼ tsp. Hands on Earth sea salt and lemon
Crunchy Caramel Apple Rings:
- One .7 oz. package FrutaFormas crunchy apple rings
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 4 Tbsp. butter, cut into cubes
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. MAKE THE LEMON TART: In a food processor or blender, blitz the cookies until they become fine crumbs. Transfer to a small bowl and mix in the 3 tablespoons melted butter.
3. Transfer the cookie and butter mixture to a pie pan and press firmly to evenly and completely cover the pie pan. Bake until the crust is firm, about 20 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
4. Place the lemon juice and zest in a medium-sized saucepan and bring to a boil over moderate-high heat. Remove from the heat as soon as the mixture begins to boil.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg, and salt and slowly drizzle into the lemon mixture, whisking constantly. Heat the mixture over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until the custard is thick, about 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining tablespoon butter.
6. Pour the custard through a fine mesh sieve or cheese cloth and into the tart shell. Refrigerate until the custard is set, 1 to 2 hours.
7. MEANWHILE, PREPARE THE APPLE RINGS: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Distribute the apple rings onto the pan.
8. In a large saucepan over moderate-low heat, heat the granulated sugar, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. The sugar will start to form clumps and eventually melt into a thick, amber-colored liquid. Continue to stirring to prevent the caramel from burning.
9. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Stir in the butter, then the heavy cream. Return the saucepan to the heat and continue to stir carefully (the mixture will boil and react) for 1 minute.
10. Carefully drizzle the caramel over the apple rings. When cool enough to handle, distribute over the lemon tart and serve.
