Lemon Tart

Niall and I were watched Come Dine with Me and a woman made a lemon meringue pie.  She didn't cook the lemon curd before putting it in the oven and it did not turn out pretty.  Despite the lack of success of the pie, I kept thinking about it.  I don't really like meringue but I do love lemon.  I wondered if I could make a lemon meringue tart without the meringue.

The answer?  Yes.  But it's not pretty, because the lemon curd get clarified in the cooking and browned on top without the meringue.  Next time I may add the meringue and scrape it off.  (Which is how I've eaten lemon meringue pie my whole life.)

The base is adapted from Cooks.com.  I didn't feel like having a normal pie crust, so I liked the idea of coconut and oatmeal.  The filling is from Cook Eat Love.

Lemon Filling

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
6  Tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup lemon juice
4 egg yolks, well beaten
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter,
1 1/2 cups boiling water
Zest of one lemon

Crust

1 c. oatmeal, uncooked
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. flaked coconut
1/3 c. melted butter

The lemon filling takes the longest, so I started with that.

In a saucepan, mix the cornstarch and granulated sugar together and bring to medium heat.

Whisk in the cold water and the lemon juice.  Then add the egg yolks and the butter, continue stirring.  At this point the curd got really thick.  Maybe had the heat too high?

Sorry, more camera problems here.  After the mixture gets really thick, add the boiling water and the lemon zest and continue stirring.  To my mouth the filling was so delicious at this point I considered getting a spoon and calling it quits.

But, curious about the crust, I continued.  In a bowl, combine the oatmeal, brown sugar, coconut and melted butter.

Mix well.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a muffin tin with paper and press the oatmeal crust into the tin, pushing the crust up the side to make a well for the lemon filling.

Spoon the lemon filling into the oatmeal crust.  

Put the tray in the oven and cook for 10 minutes.  Perhaps I should have decreased the cooking time and the top wouldn't have browned.  They weren't pretty, but I loved how they tasted!