Meyer Lemon Raspberry Tart

(a variation on "The Joy of Cooking" Ohio Lemon Pie)

Tart Dough
2 1/2  cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
16 Tbsp (equal to 8 oz.) cold, unsalted butter, cut in small cubes
6 to 8 Tbsp ice water





Lightly grease an 8" tart pan with removable bottom.
Prepare tart dough in bowl of food processor fitted with metal blade.  Place flour, salt, and sugar in bowl- pulse once or twice.  Add cold butter, pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add ice water one tablespoon at a time, pulse just until dough starts to hold together.  Empty dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, divide in half, wrapping each half separately and place in fridge for about an hour.  When chilled, roll one piece of dough into circle, slightly larger than tart pan, about 1/8" thick.  Gently press dough into bottom and up the sides of the pan.  Trim the excess dough evenly with the top of the pan by rolling your rolling pin across the top. (I tend to save the scraps of dough just because I bake quite a bit and they come in handy.)  Place the dough-filled tart pan in the freezer until firm.

Place the second piece of dough on a piece of parchment paper, roll it about 1/8" thick and cut thin strips (about 1/2 " wide) with a knife, pizza cutter or pastry wheel to form lattice. Place the parchment sheet onto a cookie sheet and refrigerate.
(Alternatively, you can simply roll the second piece of dough into a circle and have a double crust, rather than lattice tart.  I like to see the fruit peeking through the lattice, but the tart is delicious either way.)    

The Lemon Raspberry Filling

If you are a Purist, a Shaker Lemon (or Ohio Lemon) Pie is made with paper-thin slices of lemon.  I have made the tart this way (I've also made it as a pie, doubling the filling, and lining a 9" pie plate with the dough), but sometimes time is fleeting, or I've consumed a wee bit too much caffeine and would rather not wield a sharp knife.  It is perfectly fine to use the food processor to chop up the lemon and combine it with the sugar.

For an 8" tart

1 Meyer lemon, washed, zested and either sliced paper thin or cut in quarters (discard seeds)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
pinch salt
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 Tablespoons flour
1 cup fresh raspberries

The idea is to macerate the lemon in the sugar.  It softens the skin of the lemon and draws out the juice.  If you have sliced the lemon by hand, (don't forget to seek out the seeds) place the lemon slices, the zest and the sugar in a bowl (nothing aluminum that would react with the lemon) cover and set aside (room temperature is okay) for a minimum of 2 hours, and up to 24 hours.  (You can, as I do, place the sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, add the zest, the seeded lemon, cut in quarters, and pulse it to finely chop the lemon. Scrape into a bowl, cover and set aside as above.) When you are ready for the baking, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Melt the butter, whisk in the flour until smooth, and add the eggs, one at a time.  Add this to the lemon/sugar mixture, combining well.  Remove tart shell from the freezer, sprinkle the raspberries in the shell and cover with the lemon filling.  Then criss-cross strips of dough on top of the tart, creating a lattice.  Don't worry about making it perfect- if you are not lattice-minded, you can simply "double crust" the top, trimming the edge of the dough even with the pan so it is sealed. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes to set up the crust.  Then reduce oven to 350 degrees and continue baking for about 45 minutes until crust is golden and tart tests clean with a knife. Cool before serving so the tart sets up.

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