Tarte Au Citron

Method

1. To make the pastry, rub together the flour and butter with your fingertips, or blitz them in a food processor, until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in the sugar until well combined. Add the egg and draw the mixture together, first with a fork and then with your hands, to form a ball of dough. If it is too dry and crumbly to come together, carefully add water, 1 tbsp at a time, until it does.
2. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry into a large circle of even thickness, and use it carefully to line a 24 cm loose-bottomed tart tin, pushing it well into the contours. Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.
3. For the filling, beat the eggs and sugar. Whisk in the lemon zest and juice and then the cream, until evenly blended. Transfer to a jug, cover, and chill for 1 hour.
4. Preheat the oven to 190°C and put in a baking tray. Line the pastry case with baking parchment, fill with baking beans, and bake blind on the hot tray for 10 minutes. Remove the paper and beans, and bake for a further 5 minutes on the tray, or until the pastry base is crisp with no sign of damp or raw pastry.
5. Reduce the oven temperature to 140°C. With the tart tin still on the baking tray, pull out the oven shelf, pour in the lemon filling, being careful not to allow it to spill over the edges, and slide the shelf back in. Bake for 30 minutes, or until the filling has just set but retains a slight wobble.
6. Remove the tart from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack. Turn out of the tin and serve, dusted with icing sugar and sprinkled with lemon zest.