Simple Lemon Tart | GBBO Bakealong Week 9

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Firstly, some apologies are in order. Sorry I didn’t manage to get a blog post written last week. It turns out Coventry tired me out more than I thought so baking was the last thing I wanted to do. I spent the most of last week watching Netflix whilst under a blanket. To be fair, there was one day where I tried to be a good baker and attempted to make some sourdough starter for my traditional Danish rye bread. I read a few online guides (and watched an unhealthy amount of YouTube videos) so I kind of knew what I was doing but I was not super confident. Long story short – I had a bad dream that I killed everyone with my bacteria-ridden starter so I chucked it on day two and gave up my rye bread dreams.

But that was then, this is now! Therefore, I bring you the one thing I’ve been dying to bake since watching Pastry Week… a classic lemon tart.

 

This was the best pictures on my phone... *sigh*

I honestly went back and forth in my head about whether a lemon tart was too simplistic for a blog post. I have been following some amazing bakers online and I felt like I needed to step up my game in order to be worth paying attention to. However,  I promised myself when I started this blog that I would make the food that I enjoy and not compare myself to others. This is why my photos are poorly-lit. It has nothing to do with the fact that I started the bake in the afternoon so there was no sunlight by the time I finished or that I forgot to take a photo the next morning because I was busy eating it all. Nothing at all. Moving on…

This was my first time making shortcrust and it was not as temperamental as people make it out to be. The main issue for me was that the butter in the dough started to melt as it was rolled but that was due to my carer having hands that were hotter than the sun. Therefore, we committed the cardinal sin and re-rolled the dough. Forgive me but it was a necessary evil.  The baked dough was probably not as tender as it could have been but it was still really yummy. I mean, would Paul Hollywood tear me a new one if he judged it? Absolutely. Do I care? Only a little. I guess what I am trying to say is, if you’ve avoided making shortcrust because you are worried it’ll end like a biscuit, have a go and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with a biscuit base tart!

The recipe for the tart came from SORTED Food and I highly recommend you subscribe to their YouTube channel. This tart was amazing! It was the perfect balance of sweetness and tartness which made ever so happy. I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to lemon and this just hit all the right buttons for me! The only thing I might do is reduce the amount of sugar in the dough because it doesn’t need it. Apart from that, it’s perfect me.

Next week’s post will be doughnuts and thus the end of bakealong (nooooo!)  so that post will be a long one. Apologies once again for missing last week and making this post quite short but when life gives you lemons… make a lemon tart!

Note: I read how bad that joke was and still decided to post it.

See you next week!

Mary xx