Tana Ramsay's lemon tart with blackcurrants recipe

Tana Ramsay, wife of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, has made a lemon tart recipe with blackcurrants.

Tana's recipe is a slight twist on a traditional lemon tart - the addition of the little currants in this tangy dessert looks really striking against the lemon curd filling and also softens its bite.

We recommend making this lemon tart with blackcurrants as close to the date you want to eat it as possible, as it doesn't keep fresh for too long in the fridge.

Ingredients

For the

dessert pastry:

(Use 350g-375g or 12oz-13oz for this recipe and freeze the leftovers)

• 125g (41/2oz) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
• 250g (9oz) plain flour, plus extra if necessary and for dusting
• 50g (13/4oz) icing sugar
• 2 large free-range eggs
• Dash of milk

For the

lemon curd filling:

• Finely chopped zest and juice of 3 unwaxed lemons
• 60g (21/4oz) unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
• 75g (23/4oz) caster sugar
• 3 large free-range eggs, beaten

For the

topping:

• 150g (51/2oz) punnet blackcurrants
• 1 tbsp icing sugar, sifted

You'll also need:

• 24cm (91/2in) loose-bottomed non-stick fluted tart tin

If you want to try our classic recipe

, we have a traditional lemon tart.

Method

1. Lightly grease a 24cm (91/2in) loose-bottomed, non-stick fluted tart tin and line the base with parchment paper.
2. Start by making the dessert pastry: sift the flour and icing sugar into a large mixing bowl and add the butter cubes. Using your fingertips, rub the butter in until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. At this stage, either continue with your hands or transfer to a food mixer with a dough hook. Beat together one of the eggs with the milk, add this to the flour mixture and mix until it just comes together into a crumbly ball of dough. Do not overwork it; it should look a little dry. Add a little more flour if needed. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in clingfilm and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 45 mins or overnight.
3. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface until about 5mm (1/4in) thick. Use it to line the tart tin, making sure that you gently press the pastry into the corner and fluted edge. Cover loosely with clingfilm and return to the refrigerator for 30 mins.
   
4. Preheat the oven to 200˚C/400˚F/gas mark 6.
5. While the pastry is chilling, make the lemon curd: put the lemon zest and juice, butter, sugar and beaten eggs in a medium non-stick saucepan and place over a low heat - it is very important that you don’t let the mixture overheat. Heat until the sauce starts to thicken like custard, whisking constantly and without allowing it to
   bubble, which will take 3-5 mins. When it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, plunge the base of the pan into a sink of iced water to instantly cool it, whisk it for a little longer and then leave in the iced water until needed.
6. Discard the clingfilm from the chilled tart case. Line with parchment paper and fill with baking beans, then ‘blind bake’ in the oven for 15 mins, until lightly golden. Remove the tart case from the oven and lift out the paper and beans. Lightly beat the remaining egg and use it to lightly brush the inside of the tart case all over, then return to the oven for a further 5 mins, to seal the pastry and stop the base from becoming soggy. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.
7. Spoon the lemon curd filling into the cooled tart case, spreading it evenly over the base. Arrange the blackcurrants over the filling and dust with the icing sugar to serve.