Lemon-Buttermilk Tart

Hi everyone!  Boy has it been a long time since I've posted anything on this blog!  The good news is that I am just busy and blessed with life.

Anyway, after watching the Great British Baking Show (one of my favorites) this weekend, I had a craving for a tart.  I dug through my cookbooks and found a buttermilk-lemon pie recipe that sounded good, so I decided to adapt it to make it into a tart.  It was soooooo good, I had to share the recipe.

I found the original recipe in an old Time-Life cookbook (from their American Country series) titled Country Baking (page 39).  That recipe also included a pie pastry recipe, which I'll admit I didn't use.  (I didn't have much time, and I had a ready-crust in the fridge that needed to be used, so I went that route for the crust.)  It didn't take long, and we had a delicious tart.  The hardest part was making myself eat dinner before I had a piece…or two.

I've had several friends ask for the recipe, so here it is:

Ingredients:

1 stick (4 oz.) real butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks

1/4 cup flour

1 cup buttermilk

1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice (I think I'll try lime juice next time!)

1 Tbsp. grated lemon zest

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. nutmeg (the original recipe called for 1/2 tsp., but I think nutmeg can be pretty overpowering, so I halved the amount)

Pastry for single-crust pie (I used a refrigerated crust)

Directions:

Roll pie crust pastry to fit your tart pan.  (I used an 11" tart pan but you could make a 9" pie - like the original recipe called for if you prefer.)  Line tart pan with crust, and trim edges to fit.  Prick the pastry with a fork and place it in the freezer to chill for at least 15 minutes before baking.

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Line the tart shell with foil and fill it with pie weights or dried beans (I used some lentils I had in the pantry 😊).  Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the foil and weights, and set the tart shell aside to cool.  Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs (one at a time), until creamy.  Beat in the flour, and slowly pour in the buttermilk and lemon juice, then stir in the lemon juice, zest, vanilla and nutmeg.

Pour the filling into the tart shell and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until filling is firm and lightly browned (golden).  Cool tart to room temperature before serving.

This recipe more than satisfied my tart craving!  Don't tell anyone, but I actually ate 2 pieces before it was even completely cooled!

I hope you'll give it a try and let me know what you thought.  I may play with this recipe a bit and try adding coconut in the future, what do you think?

Wishing you God's blessings until I blog again!

--Faithy