Sweet Pastry Crust: In a separate bowl, sift or whisk together the flour andsalt. Set aside. Place the butter in your mixer and beat until softened. Addsugar and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten egg, beating justuntil incorporated. Don't over mix or the butter will separate and lighten incolor. Add flour mixture all at once and mix just until it forms a ball. Don'toverwork or pastry will be hard when baked.

Flatten dough into disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 30minutes or until firm.

Have ready an 8 - 9 inch (20 - 23 cm) tart pan with removable bottom. On alightly floured surface, roll out the pastry into an 11 - 12 inch (28 - 30 cm) circlethat is about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick. To prevent the pastry from sticking to thecounter and to ensure uniform thickness, keep lifting up and turning the pastrya quarter turn as you roll (always roll from the center of the pastry outwards toget uniform thickness). To make sure it is the right size, take your tart pan, flipit over, and place it on the rolled out pastry. The pastry should be about an inchlarger than pan.

When the pastry is rolled to the desired size, lightly roll pastry around yourrolling pin, dusting off any excess flour as you roll. Unroll onto top of tart pan. Never pull pastry or you will get shrinkage (shrinkage is caused by too muchpulling of the pastry when placing it in the pan). Gently lay in pan and with asmall floured piece of pastry, lightly press pastry into bottom and up sides ofpan. Roll your rolling pin over top of pan to get rid of excess pastry. With athumb up movement, again press dough into pan. Roll rolling pin over topagain to get rid of any extra pastry. Prick bottom of dough (this will preventthe dough from puffing up as it bakes). Cover and refrigerate for about 20minutes to chill the butter and to rest the gluten in the flour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Line unbaked pastry shell with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Fill tartpan with pie weights, rice or beans, making sure the weights are to the top ofthe pan and evenly distributed over the entire surface. Bake the crust for 20 to25 minutes or until the crust is dry and lightly golden brown.

For Lemon Curd: While the crust is baking make the Lemon Curd. In astainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk togetherthe eggs, sugar, and lemon juice until blended. Cook, whisking constantly (toprevent it from curdling), until the mixture becomes pale in color and quitethick (like a hollandaise sauce or sour cream) (160 degrees F or 71 degrees C ona thermometer). This will take about 10 minutes. Remove from heat andimmediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Cut the butterinto small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Addthe lemon zest. Immediately pour the lemon curd into the baked crust andsmooth the top.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Bake the tart forabout 10 minutes or until the lemon curd is firm but still a little wobbly in thecenter. Do not let it brown or burn.

For Meringue: Meanwhile, in a clean bowl of your electric mixer, with thewhisk attachment, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar andcontinue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add the sugar and continueto whip until stiff peaks form.

Using a spoon, place dollops of the meringue over the entire surface of the hotlemon curd, starting at the outside edge of the tart. (Make sure the meringuecomes right up to the crust and there are no gaps between the crust and thelemon curd.) Then, with the back of your spoon, gently press down on themeringue to get rid of any air pockets and to make sure all the lemon curd iscovered with the meringue. If desired, swirl the meringue making a fewdecorative peaks. Return the tart to the oven and bake for about 10 to 15minutes or until the meringue has nicely browned.

Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool, away from any drafts. When cool, serve or else cover and refrigerate.

Serves 6 - 8

Note: Leftover pastry can be used to make Sables (French Butter Cookies)

Sweet Pastry Crust:

1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Lemon Curd:

3 large eggs

1/3 cup (80 ml) fresh lemon juice (2-3 lemons) (do notuse the bottled lemon juice)

3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated white sugar

4 tablespoons (56 grams) unsalted butter, at roomtemperature and cut into small pieces

1 tablespoon (4 grams) lemon zest

Meringue:

4 large egg whites

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (130 grams) white granulatedsugar

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Lemon Zest - The yellow outer rind of the lemon thatcontains the fruit's flavor and perfume. The rind beingthe outer skin of the lemon which consists of both theyellow zest and white membrane (pith).

TIPS:

Always remove the zest first before halving andsqueezing the lemon.

Thin, smooth skinned lemons at room temperature yieldthe most juice.

Thick, bumpy textured cold lemons give the maximumamount of zest.

Use a fine strainer to remove the seeds and pulp fromthe juice.

Lemon Meringue Tart Recipe