slice Archives - Cakeophilia

I read once that there are two kinds of people in the world: chocoholics, or lemonophiles. This post is for the latter. I’ve propounded on the virtues of gooey lemon bars before, but for some reason, and I really can’t fathom why, it never occurred to me to coat it with torched sugar until now.

Sorry about that. On the plus side, the problem has been rectified.

This slice is a little bit of super lemony, not too sugary (except for the caramel that is), heaven. It has a zesty lemon custard, a soft cream cheese pastry, and the best thing is, if you accidentally burn the sugar occasionally with over-zealoused blowtorching, it frankly tastes even better.

I’ve found that this stuff is the ultimate bribery material. People will do just about anything to get their paws on lemon brûlée slice. Good to know. It also keeps really well – the caramelised sugar does eventually lose its crunch, but none of the flavour, and somehow the lemon custard and pastry symbiosis improves over time. Anyway, you can always re-sugar and re-brûlée as desired.

Lemon Brûlée Slice

Makes a 20 cm square slice, which serves 12-16.

Lemon Cream Cheese Pastry

ingredients

11/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
110g unsalted butter, cubed
110g cream cheese, cubed
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

mixing

Combine the dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the butter, cream cheese, and sugar, and process until the mixture resembles crumbs. Sprinkle over the lemon juice and process again until the mixture forms large granules. It should be soft and sufficiently damp to press together.

Tip of the mixture into the prepared pan, and press down firmly. Using the back of a spoon, flatten the mixture and prick lightly with a fork. Bake at 180°C for 15 minutes or until starting to turn lightly golden.

In the meantime prepare the lemon custard by mixing (without beating!) all of the ingredients together with a wire whisk until the sugar has all dissolved.

Remove the base from the oven and while it is still hot, pour the lemon custard mixture over the top. Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes until the custard has set.

Cool the tart for at least four hours until very cold. Sprinkle the caster sugar in a thin, even layer over the lemon custard, and, using a blow torch, brûlée the sugar, taking care not to burn the caramel. Add another layer of caster sugar if desired and repeat.

Let the tart cool again before cutting. If you are in a low humidity place, you can put it back in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 8 hours before serving, the caramel should still stay crunchy.

To cut, use a sharp knife, wiping the blade in-between cuts.