250g plain flour, sifted
A pinch of sea salt
70g of caster superfine sugar
2 egg yolks
125g of butter, in cubesThe Lemon Cream:
3 whole eggs + 3 egg yolks
180g of caster superfine sugar
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
Juice from 2 lemons
300ml of double cream
2 tablespoons of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
Instructions
The Shortcrust Pastry
In a large mixing bowl place flour, sugar, salt and stir.
Add yolks, butter and mix. Pour in 50ml of ice-cold water and start kneading. First, you get a crumble. Then, the butter connects it all. As a result you should get a homogeneous piece of pastry, takes around 4 minutes.
Wrap in cling foil and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
The Lemon Cream
Meanwhile, the pastry is resting, prepare the filling.
In another large mixing bowl put the eggs (3 whole eggs, 2 yolks) and sugar. Whisk on high-speed for about 3 minutes until it gets nicely fluffy and doubles its size.
Gradually stir in the lemon zest and juice from lemons.
Next, pour in the cream and continue whisking. At the end, add the rosemary and mix with a spatula. Don’t get scared if the filling is quite liquid, it will work its magic in the oven.
Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Presentation
Take the pastry out of the fridge and roll it out between 2 sheets of cling foil. Transfer it gently into a pie plate lined with some baking paper (I used 26cm). Gently press the sides, leave them higher, so the filling won’t leak out. You can also go through the sides with a fork, so it looks even prettier.
Put some weight on it and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, stir the filling.
After 10 minutes, pour the filling in.
If you think that it is too much and it may leak out, no panic. Place it gently into the oven and bake for about 5 minutes. Then, pour in the rest of the filling. That way the filling thickens a bit and it will be easier to make it full, in case your form isn’t too high.
Bake the pie in the oven for about 30 minutes until it gets nicely compact, similarly to a cheesecake texture. It gets a bit golden on top, but don’t burn it too much. You can rather lower the heat instead.
Take the pie out and let it cool down entirely. Slice and enjoy with your beloved.
Makes a pie of 26cm.