Gin & Tonic Lemon Tart
Makes 1 x 12-inch tart
Pastry:
250gm plain flour
50gm icing sugar
125gm salted butter
pinch salt
finely grated zest of 1 lemon (reserve juice for curd)
50ml tonic water
1 Tablespoon freshly crushed fennel seeds
Curd filling:
300gm caster sugar
8 eggs + 4 yolks
finely grated zest of 3 lemons + juice of 4
250gm salted butter
6 bruised juniper berries
2 titanium gelatine leaves
Gin syrup:
200ml tonic water
2 strips lemon zest
6 lightly bruised juniper berries
100gm caster sugar
30ml Suburban Gin
Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
With a vegetable peeler remove a couple of strips of lemon zest and reserve for syrup before grating the rest for the pastry.
Combine all pastry ingredients until a smooth dough is formed – do not overwork as it will make the pastry chewy. Roll out on a floured bench to 3mm thick and line your tart tin. Rest in the fridge for half an hour and then blind bake until lightly golden – approximately 15-20minutes.
To make curd, bloom gelatine in cold water and combine remaining ingredients in a bain-marie. Cook, mixing continuously until thickened and light ribbons form, then mix in bloomed gelatine leaves and strain into a clean bowl. Allow to chill for at least half an hour before pouring into the tart shell.
For syrup combine all ingredients except gin in a small saucepan and simmer until syrupy. Remove from the heat and add gin, chill and serve drizzled over the filled tart. Add a dollop of double cream for some extra indulgence…
Bake and keep your pastry off cuts as they make a fantastic canapé to go with a pre-dinner G&T see Smoked Salmon Canapé