Summer Lemon Curd Tart - An Edible Transit of Venus
Wednesday June 6, 2012
It's funny the way almost anything can inspire a cooking project. Yesterday I watched the very rare Transit of Venus. So I'm thinking... mmmm... Lemon tart with blueberry transit. And voila... an edible science project. Check it out!
For anyone that has missed the news in the past few days- this event occurs in pairs every 105 years. So if you missed the one yesterday, the next one occurs in 2117- mark it on your calendar. In the meantime, we can eat Transit of Blueberry tart to compensate.
Lemon curd works perfectly to represent the Sun, and what better to pair with lemon than fresh blueberries. Lemon curd is one of my favourite things by the way. I could eat this straight from the jar- deliciously tart and refreshing. I also included some more pictures of past lemon curd tarts I have made to give some ideas about how you can serve it.
Recipe: Summer Lemon Curd Tart
Makes 4 4inch round tarts or 1 9-inch round tart or 1 13-inch rectangular tart
Ingredients:
4 pre-baked shells (~4-inch) or 1 9-inch round or 1 13-inch rectangular tart
Recipe for tart dough HERE
Lemon curd:
zest of 1 lemon
jucie of 2 lemons (~1/2 cup)
4 eggs
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
2 tbsp cornstarch
Garnish:
Sugared lemon peel
- 2 oranges or lemons
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 cup sugar
Fresh berries
Method:
Tart Dough: Prepare the tart dough according to the recipe HERE
Lemon Curd: In a small bowl stir together cornstarch and water and set aside. Add eggs, oil, lemon juice and sugar to a saucepan and whisk CONSTANTLY over medium heat for ~10 min or until mixture is thickened and almost at a boil. Turn the heat off and using a wooden spoon or spatula, stir in the cornstarch and water mixture until thickened. Strain the mixture through a fine seive and then add the lemon zest.
Prepare: Pour the preared lemon curd into the cooled tart shell and let cool to room temperature before placing in fridge or serving. (Garnish with sugared lemon peel or fresh fruit)
Sugared Lemon (or Orange) Peel: Strip oranges or lemons with a zester to create long strips from the top to bottom (not around in circles as these would be too long). In small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar and bring to a boil. When sugar is completely dissolved, add peel and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain out peel and roll in sugar to coat, and place on parchment paper to dry (~ 4 hours). Use to decorate cupcakes, cakes or just as a snack dipped in melted chocolate!
Photographing the Transit:
We attended a viewing at McMaster University hosted by the Physics Department- Since you obviously can not look directly at the sun, we set up binoculars to capture the exit image that was projected into a box with white paper.
The transit is inverted when viewed through the telescope or through the binoculars, we viewed the transit over 2 hours and have included some photos of a semi time-lapse that my dad took during that time.
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