Lemon Thyme Almond Tart

The herb Lemon Thyme is growing quite well in my garden, even its flowers are eager to come out.  Though to appreciate its gently lemony scent, you have to brush the palm of your hand on its unruly hairdo. In comparison to the common thyme used in savoury dishes which is intense in flavour, lemon thyme is much gentler.  I haven't used Lemon Thyme very much in cooking, and never in desserts, but I knew this was going to change this weekend.  I have seen recipes where the lemon thyme was folded into the shortcrust pastry, both for flavour and visual effect.  I had thought of doing the same, but then decided to add a little to the Lemon Almond filling to achieve the same impact.   

If your like me and not overly keen on tangy and sharp desserts, then this Lemon Tart will please you.  The sharpness in this Lemon Thyme Almond is softened by the lightness of ground almonds and the pastry was light and flaky.

I am submitting a slice of this Lemon Thyme Almond Tart to Winnie from Healthy Green Kitchen for this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging (WHB) #288. WHB is overseen by Haalo from Cook Almost Anything.

Lemon Thyme Almond Tart

Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients

For the Rich Shortcrust Pastry

170g plain flour

a pinch of salt

100g unsalted butter

1 medium egg yolk

Cold water, to combine

For the Lemon Thyme Almond Filling

2 medium egg

160g icing sugar

Juice and zest of 4 unwaxed lemons

90g unsalted butter, melted

70g ground almond

1 -2 teaspoon lemon thyme, stripped from the tiny stalk

Method

Preheat oven to gas mark 4.

For the Rich Shortcrust Pastry

Sift the flour with the salt into a large bowl.  Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Mix the egg yolk with 2 tablespoons water and add to the mixture.  Mix to a firm dough.  Chill, wrapped for 30 minutes before using. 

Roll out to line a 9 inch round fluted tin.  Blind bake and allow to cool.

For the Lemon Thyme Almond Filling

Beat the eggs and icing sugar together until fluffy.  Gently mix in the rest of the ingredients.  Pour the lemony mixture into the blind baked pastry case and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, until the filling has set and is just beginning to turn golden on top.  Allow to cool and serve at room temperature.  Adapted from Bill Sewell's Food From The Place Below.