Rustic Lemon Marmalade Tart

When life you gives you lemons, like really LOTS, you make everything lemon. At home like everyone else, waiting for this storm to pass, thinking of what I have on hand in the kitchen – lots of lemons from my generous friends, so marmalade was in order, which then led to this Rustic Lemon Marmalade Tart, it’s a jewel.

CITRUS GROVES

Once again, as in my childhood, I now live in a housing tract that was once a citrus grove. A reoccurring California theme, I know. I now have a massive orange tree in my yard and last season I shared the recipe for Ivy’s Marmalade in the Instant Pot. This year, I have even more oranges, due to the loving care I now give the tree. I opted to have a food share program come to pick the fruit and then distribute to local food banks. I can not possibly use even a fraction this year’s crop and it’s great to share.

So, I live smack dab in the middle of central coast citrus groves. My friends have been sharing their grapefruit and soooo many lemons, it was time for a batch of marmalade. Besides being fabulous on toast or swirled in yogurt, I remembered a rustic Shaker Lemon Pie I used to make and revamped the recipe using marmalade instead of fresh lemons.

CLASSIC LEMON PIE

I was aiming for a lemon rendition of a key lime pie, since I had a graham cracker crust in the pantry, I went for it. What resulted was a tart that is pleasingly sweet, creamy and tart, and best of all so easy to make. Just a few ingredients blended and bake. The original Shaker Lemon Pie recipe calls for using thinly sliced lemons, peels and all, and that is how I make my marmalade, much to the chagrin of some of my food purists. And yes, I used a ready-made graham cracker crust, as time was of the essence.

SIMPLE FOOD

A couple of my cooking ‘calling cards’ here at Bijouxs are present in this recipe: do not to waste any food if possible and my penchant of true, simple, vivid tasting recipes. I like food to be “simple”, that is, tastes like what it is, although that is not necessarily always an easy matter. My favorite cookbook from my early cooking days is Richard’s Olney’s “Simple French Food” a 1974 classic (reissued in 2014). Richard was a maverick chef. Really pre-dating California and seasonal cooking. It was a great teaching book for me as it will for you. I go back to it often and Braised Chicken Legs with Lemon is a great recipe to begin with.

 

Rustic Lemon Marmalade Tart has only 4 ingredients. Yes, and the vanilla bean paste is optional. This tart is truly silly-simple to make. I love the vivid taste of lemon in this creamy tart. Wonderfully simple when served with a dollop of whipped cream or creme fraiche. Keeping it real in the Bijouxs Kitchen.

Citrus season is always a little jewel.

 

As always, enjoy. B