Quick and easy

“A French classic dessert from the region of Provence, it is famous for it’s light pastry and citrusy rich flavored custard.”

Spending the summer’s in my grandpa’s village in the South of France, Cotignac. This dessert brings me back to my childhood days, where I would sit on my grandma’s terrace at “la campagne“, overlooking her olive trees with singing cigale‘s beneath it’s branches.

You will need:

Pastry:
200g soft/plain flour
125g butter
50g caster sugar
1 egg
Pinch salt

Filling:
4 eggs
200g caster sugar
5-6 lemon juice
5-6 zested lemon
125g double cream or half fat creme fraiche

In a bowl, wisk in all the filling ingredients, except for the double cream as that will be added at the end. Beat the egss, mixed with caster sugar, stirred in with the zest and lemon juice. Cover it with cling film and leave to rest in room temperate. When well infused, pass the filling through a sieve and gently wisk in the cream into the mix. For the pastry, in a bowl, start by mixing in the butter till it becomes smooth and light in colour paste. Stir in the sugar before doing two egg inclusions. Add salt to the mix before sifting the flour over the pastry mix. knead the dough 3-4 times, making sure there’s plenty of dusted flour to prevent it from sticking. Cling film the dough and leave it to rest in the fridge for up to 15minutes. Roll the pastry out so it fits the tin. Gently without tearing the pastry, ease it into the tin, then trim the edges by rolling the rolling pin over the top. Press the pastry into the flutes so it sits very slightly proud of the edge (this extra height helps in case of any shrinkage). With a fork, prick the base before cooking it in the oven for 5-10 minutes on a 160 degrees. After the first set of baking, leave it to chill for 10 more minutes in room temperature. On it’s second baking, oven bake the pastry for 10-15 minutes, till golden brown in colour. Gently pore in the filling into the cooked pastry and leave it to cook on a 140 degrees for 20-30 minutes, but use the tip of your knife to prick the filling to see whether the custard is cooked through. Once cooked, leave to chill before serving.