European Citrus Tart with Candied Lemon Slices

By now, you probably already know about my slight obsession with lemon flavored desserts, having already featured lemon bars and lemon peach pancake stacks.
What’s different about this tart though, is that the filling isn’t a cream, or even a curd. The filling is a custard. While I’m not a huge fan of custards, this one goes extremely well together with the not overly sweet tart crust, and I thought that the recipe could only be improved by garnishing the tart with candied lemon slices.
All together, the candied lemons, custard and tart crust balance each other out nicely, and this recipe is easy, delicious, and light.

For the tart dough:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 stick butter
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp ice cold water

For the custard:

• 6 eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/3 cup milk

For the candied lemon slices:

• 2 lemons
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 cup water

1. To make the tart dough: combine the dry ingredients and mix together. Add the butter in cubes, and rub together until you have flaky, pea sized pieces of butter. Add the water and mix until combined.
2. Press into plastic wrap, compressing to form a disk. Refrigerate to firm the dough.
3. To make the filling: beat the eggs and then add the sugar.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients, beating to combine.
5. Preheat the oven to 375. Roll the chilled dough out thinly and press into a 9 inch tart pan. Freeze for ten minutes.
6. Prick the dough with a fork and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, pour filling into tart shell, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until set. Remove from oven and let cool.
7. To make the candied lemon slice garnish: cut the lemon slices very thinly, using a serrated knife or a mandolin.
8. Boil a pot of water, and when boiling, blanch lemon slices for a minute.
9. After a minute of blanching, quickly drain the lemon slices and plunge them into a prepared ice bath.
10. Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and stir until dissolved. Bring to a simmer and carefully drop the lemon slices in, making sure they do not overlap on each other.
11. Let simmer for an hour.
12. Remove slices from syrup after an hour, and place on a cooling rack over a stack of paper towels to catch dripping syrup.
13. Until they are completely dry (12-24 hours) keep them in a cool place and then garnish the tart when ready.

* If you have extra custard filling and scraps of dough, make personal tartlets using the same baking instructions as above. Extra candied lemon slices are decadent when dipped in chocolate, but delicious on their own, too. Enjoy!