Tarte au citron (Lemon tart)

I hosted a coffee morning a couple of days ago and made a lemon tart as part of the food offerings. 

Ingredients for the crust

see here

Ingredients for the filling

for a 9-inch pan

5 large free range eggs

125ml double cream

175-225g xylitol & demerara sugar (or use caster sugar)

3-4 large unwaxed lemons, juiced and zested

Instructions

1. Prepare the crust. For instructions, see here.
2. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
3. In a medium sized bowl, beat the eggs until frothy.
4. Add in the xylitol, sugar, double cream, and mix to combine well.
5. Add in the lemon juice and zest.
6. Pour the filling mixture into a pouring jar.
   
7. Pour the filling mixture into the crust case. To prevent spilling, pour in most of the filling so it almost fills the tart, then top it up with the pan sitting on a baking sheet on the oven rack.
   
8. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until just set but with a slight wobble in the centre.
   
9. Leave to cool before removing from the pan. Serve warm or chill in the fridge.
   

This is a rather tart, intentionally so. I did worry that it might be too tart for my guests so I served each a small slice reminding them that they could top up with sugar or honey. In the end, my guests were of similar minds and tastes, so the tartness didn't bother them. 

All in, I think this tart was a success. I would have liked the surface of the lemon filling to be smoother and wonder if the fan in the oven blowing on it was a mistake. Perhaps I should try baking with a static heat?

The corrected thickness of the crust was much more to my liking. Even though it was hard to spread onto the pan to make, the tart tasted more of the filling than the pastry. I'll have to think of a way to improve the dough texture so it spreads easier with less breakage.