Lemon Olive Oil Tart

An easy lemon curd filling and an olive oil tart crust pair in this bright, citrus-filled summer tart. Plus tips on creating desserts with olive oil and how to make homemade lemon curd.

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Attention all: Minnesota in the summer is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I’m writing this blog post with the windows wide open. There is a gentle breeze in the air and little birds chirping is my current soundtrack. The weather here has been such a contrast from the Florida humidity and maybe it’s simply the change that I love so much. Tahini is also loving the fact that we go on longer, slightly cooler walks almost everyday without feeling like we’re traipsing through a rainforest. I might feel differently about my change in weather come winter, but I’ll just become a snowbird and escape to a warmer climate if needed.

This lemon olive oil tart pairs perfectly with my perfect summer weather and I’m so excited to share it with you. This is a really simple recipe that feels fancy and upscale with very little effort. I’ve also waxed poetic before about how much I love incorporating olive oil in pastry, but I have no problem talking about it again. Good olive oil is my very favorite ingredient in the kitchen. It’s so versatile and in the dessert realm, it can add a savory component, cutting through and balancing out sweetness in a very mild, approachable way.

ways to incorporate olive oil in dessert

Olive oil is a liquid fat, which means it can be substituted easily in places where vegetable oil or melted butter is used. It really shines in simplicity, like in this Lemon Olive Oil Loaf Cake (also, it pairs so well with citrus).

I also really love incorporating olive oil in custards and ice creams. There’s something about the way the grassy oil gets along with the richness of heavy cream that I just can’t get enough of. It’s great mixed into a custard, like this Basil Olive Oil Gelato, or even just drizzled on top like in this Fancy Strawberry Shortcake.

A great way to start playing around with olive oil desserts is to make your own vanilla olive oil! It’s so easy. Just fill a deli container or glass jar with about a cup of olive oil. Scrape 1-2 vanilla beans into the oil and then add the used pods to the oil. Seal it, give it a little shake, and then keep it in your pantry for drizzling on top of ice cream or fruit or cake all season long.

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how to make homemade lemon curd

Making curd is another skill to keep in your baking repertoire. A fruit curd, like this lemon curd, is made from cooking down fruit juice and sugar until creamy and spreadable. They also use egg yolks and often times some sort of starch to help with the thickening process. For this homemade lemon curd, we start by simmering lemon juice and half of the sugar amount until it’s bubbling and all of the sugar has dissolved. While that’s heating, we combine the remaining sugar with cornstarch, salt, lemon zest, eggs, and yolks to form a paste. While whisking continually, we will gradually pour the hot lemon syrup into the paste (this is a process called tempering and it keeps the eggs from scrambling). The entire mixture is returned to the heat and then cooked a bit longer, so that the cornstarch is activated and the mixture is thickened. Strain the curd and then whisk in some olive oil and voila! The curd gets poured into a really lovely olive oil crust and then into the refrigerator to set!

a few tips for making great curd:

  1. Make sure that you have all of your ingredients and tools prepped before you get started because the process moves quickly. I like to have two large bowls (one for the paste and one clean to strain into), a strainer, a whisk, a wooden spoon, and a rubber spatula all close by.

  2. Place a cork hot-pad or even just a kitchen towel underneath the bowl while tempering. This will keep the bowl from sliding around while you use your hands to whisk and pour at the same time.

  3. Whisk your sugar and cornstarch together before adding any wet ingredients in order to break up any clumps in the cornstarch.

  4. Be careful not to combine your eggs and sugar together too early. You don’t want it to set for more than about 5 minutes or the acid from the sugar will start to cook your egg yolks.

Yield: one 9" tart
Author: Anna Ramiz
Lemon Olive Oil Tart

Lemon Olive Oil Tart

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 30 MinInactive time: 3 HourTotal time: 4 Hour
A bright, citrus-filled summer tart. This simple olive oil shortbread crust is filled with creamy olive oil lemon curd.

Ingredients

for the crust
  • 1 1/3 cups + 1 tbsp (75 g) all purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp cornmeal
  • 1/3 cup +1 tbsp (50 g) powdered sugar
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
  • 1 tbsp lemon zest (from one lemon)
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tbsp fruity olive oil
for the lemon curd
  • 3/4 cup (175 ml) lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp lemon zest (from one lemon)
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup (56 g) unsalted butter, cubed
  • 2 tbsp fruity olive oil

Instructions

to make the crust
  1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, cornmeal, powdered sugar, salt, and lemon zest. Pulse for 30 seconds, until combined.
  2. Add the cubed butter and pulse for about 1 minute, until butter is broken down into pea-sized pieces. Add the egg yolk and olive oil and pulse again, just until mixed and dough begins to come together around the blade.
  3. Transfer dough to a clean, lightly floured work surface, and pat into a disc, about 1” thick. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least one hour, or up to 24 hours.
  4. When the dough has sufficiently chilled, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently roll it out to 1/4” thickness, about 10” in diameter.
  5. Place the dough into a tart pan with a removable bottom and gently press it in to the edges. Trim the overhang and dock the surface of the crust with a fork. Place the tart shell in the freezer for at least 30 minutes to chill.
  6. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375° F. Place the tart pan in the center of a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 12-13 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool completely before filling. (If making ahead, you can loosely wrap the tart shell in aluminum foil and let sit at room temperature for up to 24 hours.)
to make the filling
  1. Combine lemon juice and half of the sugar (1/2 cup) in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat and cook until simmering and sugar has dissolved.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, salt, lemon zest and cornstarch to break up any lumps in the cornstarch. Add the eggs and egg yolks and whisk to form a smooth paste.
  3. Carefully and while whisking continually, slowly stream the hot lemon juice syrup into the egg mixture. When all of the syrup has been adding, transfer all of the mixture back to the saucepan and return to heat, whisking constantly.
  4. Stirring continually, bring the mixture to a boil, and then boil for 2 minutes, until thickened. Pour curd through a sieve or fine mesh strainer.
  5. Immediately whisk butter into the hot curd, followed by the olive oil. Let curd cool slightly, and then pour into your prepared crust. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill until set, about 3 hours. Slice and serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Notes:

I created this recipe using Monini Olive Oils and they are favorite in our house. If you don't have access to them, you can substitute another fruity olive oil that you like.

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Roasted Apricot and Ricotta Tart

This simple, summer fruit tart is made with a no-bake ricotta cheesecake filling and topped with honey roasted apricots and spiced pistachios.

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‘Tis the season for buying all of the fresh summer produce and piling them into buttery-crusts! Summer is my very favorite baking season because fruit and veggies are in abundance and they really don’t need much coaxing to shine in easy-peasy desserts. This roasted apricot and ricotta tart is a beautiful way to showcase those little golden gems, it’s endlessly adaptable and it will be on repeat in our house this summer.

short crust pastry for tarts

The base of this tart, and really any fruit tart, is a simple short crust pastry. There are three main types of pastry: pâte brissée, pâte sucrée, and pâte sablée. Pâte brissée is your basic pie crust that can be used in sweet or savory applications. The word brisée in French means broken, which makes sense due to the flaky, delicate layers in traditional pie crust. Pâte sucrée is a sweeter crust, traditionally used in tarts. The process is similar to brisée in that butter is worked into dry ingredients, but usually includes the addition of an egg yolk, which shortens the gluten strands in the crust and gives a crumblier, more moist texture. Finally, pâte sablée, or sandy crust, is a more cookie-like crust made with more sugar than the other two and uses the creaming method for mixing. For this tart, and most of our other fruit tarts, we are using a basic pâte sucrée for the base.

I incorporated a bit of spelt flour because I love to play with alternative flours, but you can certainly make this crust using 100% all purpose flour. You could also substitute the spelt flour for an equal amount (by weight) of rye flour or even semolina flour. When experimenting with incorporating alternative flours, I always start at 25% of the total flour weight.

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a no-bake ricotta cream filling

The filling for this tart is reminiscent of a cheesecake filling—tangy and lightly sweetened. It’s made by simply creaming together whole-milk ricotta cheese and softened cream cheese until smooth, and then adding a bit of powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, and lemon zest. Everything is beaten until very smooth and then poured into the baked crust and allowed to set for at least 4 hours. If you’d like to swap out the ricotta, mascarpone would be a great substitution.

how to make an apricot tart

Apricots are such fun fruits and they are only available for a short window of time so I really wanted them to shine in this tart. Roasting fruit allows helps to gently caramelize them, pulling out and highlighting all of the residual sweetness. Since apricots can be a bit on the tart side, roasting helps the sharpness to mellow out a bit. Pitted apricots are tossed in honey and lemon juice and then allowed to roast in a 350° F oven for 20-30 minutes, until soft and bubbling.

To make the tart, we start with a simple shortcrust pastry. Flour, sugar, and salt are blitzed with cold butter in a food processor, then an egg yolk and a bit of water is added until a dough begins to come together. The dough is pressed together, wrapped, and chilled, before being rolled out and baked in a tart pan.

While the tart shell is cooling, the ricotta filling is whipped together and then poured into the tart shell. Roasted apricots are piled on top and the whole thing heads to the refrigerator for a long chill. Before serving, the tart is sprinkled with spiced pistachios.

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Yield: one 9" tart
Author: Anna Ramiz
Roasted Apricot and Ricotta Tart

Roasted Apricot and Ricotta Tart

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 45 MinInactive time: 4 HourTotal time: 5 H & 15 M
This simple, summer fruit tart is made with a no-bake ricotta cheesecake filling and topped with honey roasted apricots and spiced pistachios.

Ingredients

for the tart crust (adapted from Wild Sweetness by Thalia Ho)
  • 1 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp (175 g) all purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp (50 g) powdered sugar
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, cold and cubed
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tbsp ice water
for the roasted apricots
  • 10 apricots, pitted and quartered
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • Juice of 1/2 of a large lemon
for the ricotta cream filling
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 8 oz whole-milk ricotta cheese
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup (60 g) powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp lemon zest
for the spiced pistachios
  • 1 cup (140 g) pistachios
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp coriander
  • 1/4 tsp cardamom
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

to make the tart crust
  1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Pulse once or twice and then add the cubed butter. Pulse again for about 30 seconds, until butter is broken up into pea-sized pieces. Add the egg yolk and water and continue to pulse just until dough begins to come together.
  2. Turn dough out onto a work surface and gently knead into a disc. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour, and up to 24 hours.
  3. When the dough has chilled, place it between two sheets of parchment paper. Roll out to a circle about 11” in diameter and 1/4” thickness. Gently transfer the crust to a 9” tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the sides and bottom into the pan and then trim edges. Dock the crust with a fork and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
  4. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Bake chilled crust for 15-17 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Remove the crust from the oven and let cool completely. *Crust can be make a day ahead, wrapped loosely, and stored at room temperature. *
to make the roasted apricot and ricotta tart
  1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
  2. In a large bowl, combine pitted and quartered apricots, 1 tbsp honey, a pinch of salt, and the juice of half of a lemon. Stir to coat and transfer to a baking dish.
  3. Roast for 25-30 minutes until apricots are soft and begin to caramelize. Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
  4. Meanwhile, using a hand mixer or a stand mixer, beat softened cream cheese until smooth. Add the ricotta and continue to beat until there are no more chunks and mixture is combined. Add the powdered sugar, heavy cream, vanilla, lemon zest, and salt. Continue to mix until everything is well incorporated and cream is light and fluffy.
  5. Pour ricotta cream into baked tart shell and use an offset spatula or spoon to smooth into an even layer. Top with cooled, roasted apricots and transfer the entire tart to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or until set.
  6. Just before serving, make the spiced pistachios. Preheat oven to 350° F. Toss pistachios, olive oil, honey, and spices together in a large bowl until everything is well-coated. Transfer nuts to a parchment-lined baking sheet and spread into a single layer. Bake for 10-15 minutes until deeply golden and caramelized. Let cool completely and then roughly chop. Sprinkle spiced pistachios over finished tart and serve immediately.

Notes:

This tart is endlessly adaptable:


  • You can substitute any fruit for the apricots, just keep an eye on them as they roast since different fruits may need a shorter or longer baking time.
  • Swap ricotta for mascarpone cheese.
  • If you really don't want to turn on your oven, you can easily trade the tart crust for a simple cookie crust. Here's a recipe that you could use.
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Tag @gatheredatmytable on instagram and hashtag it #gatheredatmytable
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