postlet - a simple suggestion for lemon curd

a great number of you have asked me what my favorite way to eat and serve lemon curd is, that is other than spooning heaping mounds of it directly into my mouth, and I must say that it's in tart form.

 the naked tart

The curd is sinfully good on a simple shortcrust pastry, however, I prefer it on a ginger crust just to give it that extra kick. The best part about my ginger crust is that it's two ingredients, yep, two! And so this tart is done in minutes (that is, if you already have the curd on hand).

I also like to dress the tart up a bit at the end, and you can really have a lot of fun with this (especially if you're obsessively aesthetically minded like I am). When I make these tarts in individual tart shells I like to take my brulee torch and give the tart a crisp sugar coating that goes crunch when you tap it with your fork (this is also my favorite part of eating creme brulee). On a bigger tart this doesn't work quite as well. It's still beautifully appealing, but a little messy when you cut slices into it. Blueberries or raspberries, a dusting of powdered sugar or even cocoa powder are all great substitutions here.

a crunchy brulee crust

 you think we liked it?

RECIPE

lemon tart on ginger snap crust
serves 8

2 x recipe for lemon curd
2 cups ginger snaps (I really like to use Trader Joe's triple ginger cookies so try and find these if you can, but if you can't any ginger snap will do)
4 Tbsp butter, melted

- preheat the oven to 375 degrees
- butter a ten inch false bottom tart pan (or three false bottom 3-inch tart pans)
- in a food processor or blender whiz the ginger snaps for about 20 seconds
- pour in the melted butter, whiz until totally combined (about 20 more seconds)
- press the crust into the tart pan using your fingers or the back of a spoon. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until fragrant
- remove from oven and press down once more to make sure you still have you tart edges (they might have melted into the bottom crust during cooking.
- pour in the lemon curd and place in the fridge for an hour.

options:
- for the brulee top, generously sprinkle granulated sugar on top of the tart so that it is completely covered and white. Using a kitchen torch, melt the sugar until a light golden brown and so there is no more "white" sugar visible.
- otherwise, finely dust powdered sugar and/or cocoa powder, or top with fresh berries.