Geometric Lemon Tart

I was craving the taste of bright and zingy lemon curd, perfect for Summer, and recently I've fallen in love with the work of Lauren Ko on Instagram: @LokoKitchen. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to try and recreate one of her tart designs.

Lauren Ko is a pie artist who creates amazing geometric designs, and is famous for her spoke pies. She also has incredibly witty pun captions for all of her pies (if you're into that like I am ;)) Please check her out!

I attempted to recreate her chocolate and kumquat tart, but with a lemon curd tart and bigger citrus (oranges and lemons )

Step 1: Lemon Curd Ingredients

For this easy lemon curd you'll need:

- 3 whole eggs

-¾ cup white sugar (granulated)

-1 tablespoon lemon zest

-½ cup fresh lemon juice

-2 tablespoons heavy cream

-½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter (cubed)

Step 2: Make Your Curd

-In a medium bowl combine all of the ingredients except for the butter, and whisk until combined.

Note: Acids and dairy do not mix well, curdling is natural (it's a curd after all)

-Then heat up a small pot of water to create a double broiler, and wait for the water to simmer.

-Place your medium bowl over the simmering water and whisk continuously for about 10-20 minutes until the mixture thickens (you want it to be Nappé; french for 'to coat'. To test this, run your finger through the back of a spoon dipped in curd, and if the gap stays, it's ready--see gif)

-Remove the bowl from heat, and stir in the butter cubes

-Allow to cool, 15-20 minutes (in the fridge, preferably)

*Lemon curd troubleshoot center*

Here's a god given trick to save a runny curd that just isn't coming together: add an egg yolk and continue heating until it thickens. Simple as that. Keep in mind that lemon curd will thicken slightly when cooled!

Step 3: Make Your Crust

Since I was not in the mood for making a tart shell from scratch (and I hate store bought, but you do you!), I made an easy and quick graham cracker crust that gets the job done.

Ingredients:

-1 ½ cup Graham Cracker crumbs (About 1 package, 32 cookies)

-6 tbsp melted butter

- Any leftover lemon zest from the curd (optional, but makes me feel veryyy fancy)

Steps:

-Stir the ingredients together in a bowl

- Grease your pan with a butter wrapper or spray

- Dump into a small tart pan and press evenly and firmly ( i like to use the bottom of a smaller and flat plate to press it evenly)

-Chill in the fridge about 15 minutes

Note: You might notice, my crust didn't reach the edges, this is because my dad likes his crust thicker, so I didn't have anymore mixture for the sides. Feel free to adjust the crust to your personal liking.

Step 4: Watch This Gif and Feel Satisfied

So your crust and your curd are chillin', getting to know each other in the fridge, you know, before they become one delicious tart and eaten by you and whoever you share it with.

Time to combine the two! Simply pour your curd into your tart pan and smooth the top with a silicone spatula.

Step 5: *How to Use Extra Curd*

Other than eating the liquid sunshine by the spoonful, you can try it on vanilla ice cream like I did, or with waffles, pancakes, between sponge cake (like Jamie Oliver's Simple Sponge )

Yo, the possibilities are endless.

Step 6: Prep Your Citrus Slices

Take some big lemons and oranges and slice them about 1mm thick, in circular slices as even as you can

Step 7: Geometry (Oh Boy--Math! Kinda)

Here's the fun part:

Cut whatever geometrical shape you'd like to create a design from (check out LokoKitchen.com for pretty pictures and inspiration)

I chose to cut small quarter circles and tile them in rows, alternating between lemons and oranges. I can't really give a thorough explanation here, as I went solely by referring to the picture often.

Step 8: Garnish and Eat (I Know, My Favorite Step Too)

All the colors of the sun and summer in one vibrant yellow tart! I felt that it needed a bit of green, so I add mint and lemon thyme for garnish, but this is completely optional