Red Currant and Lemon Curd Brûlée Tart is a light, summery dessert that rounds off any meal perfectly. You've got the sweet yet tart red currant with the creamy lemon curd, crunchy, buttery tart shell and a light crispy sugar topping! Delicious!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As some of you might already know, my yard is like mostly red currants right now. I've eaten so much red currants, I had already made jams, sauces, frozen whole, eaten alone. You know, the usual way to preserve garden yummies.

 

I needed something different. Something in a tart shell, because I love tarts and pies! If you do too, then these recipes are for you: flaky all-butter pie crust, blueberry pie, strawberry peach pie, and rhubarb custard tartlets.

 

 

I always tend to digress! Right, I had red currants and I wanted it in a tart. I had recently seen a recipe (from The Cook and Baker) for rhubarb and lemon curd into a tart and that was brûléed <- this is now a word for the burned sugar topping (on my blog at least).

 

I was definitely needing to try it with red currants. And by the way, I am definitely bruleeing a lot of things in the future. Looking forward to it. Update: I know you would love a pumpkin crème brûlée for fall, you're welcome.

 

 

How to make it

 

Right, it does take some time to make. But I like being in the kitchen, at least now that the temperature dropped to reasonable instead of full blast.

 

 

Begin with the tart shells.

 

Tart Shells

 

Sift flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Add cubed cold butter and mix with low speed (on handheld mixer or stand mixer), mix until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add 1 tablespoon of cold water at the time into the bowl. Mix lighty with your hands, that way it's easier to spot the right texture. Mix until you can form a ball. But do not over work it or it will become tough.

 

I like to take a scale and weigh the dough (about 500 gr) and divide it into 6-8 smaller balls. Makes it easier to work with later. Flatten each ball into a disc and wrap it in plastic. Refrigerate 30-60 minutes before using. Longer is also fine.

 

Note: I divided into 8 balls, and you can see I hadn't enough to fill the entire pan, so you might decide to divide into 6 or 7. 

 

 

 

Things to keep in mind when making tart and pie dough:

 

• Cold ingredients
• Do not overwork the dough
• Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before using
• Blind bake if the filling is very runny

 

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F). Lightly grease 6 10 cm (4 in) round tart tins. Having a loose base is easier, but it works without too.

 

 

Keeping it cool

 

Lightly flour the counter and begin rolling out the pastry to 3 mm (⅛ in) thick. I like to roll a few times one way, and then turn the pastry 180 degrees and do the same. Continue doing this, and the pastry will turn out reasonably round. You need to roll them out to be a little bigger than the tart shells. Line the pastry into the tart tins, trim away any excess pastry. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

 

Time to blind bake

 

This tart needs to be blind baked. Blind baked means that you bake the tarts before adding in the filling. Sometimes you just half bake it before adding in the filling, but since this filling is supposed to be cold, we fully blind bake it.

 

 

Place all the unbaked tarts on a baking tray, adding crumbled baking paper or aluminium foil into each tin, covering the pastry. Add in dry peas, beans or baking beads. This forces the pastry to keep in shape. Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes (15 for me). Remove the paper and the chosen weight, return to oven and bake uncovered until golden, about 10-15 more minutes (15 for me). Remove from oven and let cool.

 

Lemon Curd Filling

 

Make your own lemon curd. I would make this one day before making the tart shells, as it is better if you let it thicken up in the fridge overnight. You can also use mango and lime curd for a fun variation! If you're short on time, then store-bought is of course fine too.

 

 

The recipe for lemon curd is way too large for this red currant and lemon curd brûlée tart, but it's difficult to scale it down because of the 1 egg yolk in the recipe. But you can keep the rest in the fridge for later use or in the freezer!

 

Red Currant Filling and Assembly

 

This is really simple. Combine red currants and sugar in a bowl, and let it rest 10 minutes on the counter to let the currants release a little of their juices into the sugar. And it's ready!

 

 

Once the tart shells are cool, and the lemon curd has set, you'll be ready to assemble your brûlée tart. I like to add 1 heaping tablespoon of red currants into each shell, covering the bottom. Dollop 1-2 tablespoon of lemon curd on top of this. If you didn't take them out of their tart tins yet, let them set for a while, and you'll be ready to just wiggle them out of their tins.

 

Cover each tart with 1-2 teaspoon of sugar. Brûlée either in the broiler of your oven or with a creme brûlée torch. Keep a constant eye on it if you had it in the broiler, around 2 minutes.

 

It takes a little while, but it's not that difficult. And look at that red currant and lemon curd brûlée tart, so worth it!

 

 

Summer delights:

• Chocolate Lava Cake with Raspberry Red Currant Sauce
• Lilac Lemon Cupcakes
• Pomegranate Cucumber Vodka Lemonade
• Ginger Lemon Iced Tea
• Curry Coconut Chicken Satay with Mango Cucumber Salad
• Tacos al Pastor

Let me know what you thought of this recipe, either in the comment section below or tag me @thegingerwithspice on Instagram. And don't forget to Pin it for later!

 

 

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