How Do I Recreate This Lemon Tart From Amsterdam? Good Questions

Q: I had this fabulous lemon tart while on holiday in Amsterdam. It was so different to the lemon-curd style tart that I'm used to in Montreal. It was very soft and tender, consistent, sort of eggy/cakey (maybe a bit like a clafoutis, but not at all gooey), and very deliciously lemony. You can see how it cracked in the cooking process, and it didn't really have a crust or shell. I would love to find a recipe for this type of lemon tart, but I have no idea where to begin.

Sent by Allison

Editor: That looks divine, Allison. We don't quite know where to start either, although hopefully one of the readers will recognize this sort of tart!

We do think playing around with a clafoutis recipe might give you some interesting results. Also, the other thing we immediately thought of was lemon pudding cake. What about trying that recipe and baking it in a tart mold?

• Lemon Spongettes
• Sara Kate's Lemon Pudding Cakes

Good luck, and please let us know if you identify the correct recipe; it sounds like something we'd love to try.

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Related: Recipe: Gâteau de Zoë

(Image: Allison)

Comments (11)

was there whole lemons in it or just lemon flavor? It sort of looks to me like a dutch baby. But maybe I'm projecting because of the name. : )

Google "dutch babies" using the image search and let me know what you think. It would be trivial to add grated lemon peel to make dutch babies lemony.

I see where you're going with the dutch baby pancake but it definitely looks more tart like- I agree with the editor. This looks (and your description sounds) like a thin tart shell with a lemon pudding cake for the filling. (They did a great write up on pudding cakes a while back. If you search on here you'll find some good recipes)

Is a pudding-cake gooey? This definitely wasn't gooey. There were no obvious pieces of lemon in it, just the zingy flavour.

The pictures of "dutch baby" pancakes look quite thin ... this was about 3/4 inch thick and totally consistent texture throughout. I'm sure a lemony-dutch-baby would be quite yummy though, so I'm tempted to give them a try anyway. :)

Looks like a lemony dutch baby to me! Cracked, no shell, eggy and clafoutis-esque all point in that direction. Lemon zest would be a good start- we always had them with fresh lemon wedges (squeeze em over the top) and then dusted (or coated) with powdered sugar.

Most of the lemon tarts I've had here (I live in NL) are a version of the classic tarte au citron (citroentaart in Dutch). The filling is usually eggs, sugar, heavy cream, lemon zest and lemon juice -- it almost ends up tasting kind of like a cross between a lemon curd and a creamy cheesecake in a tart shell. From your description, this one sounds different. I might actually venture to say that it could be an overbaked version of the classic lemon tart? Could you tell me what the name of it was in Dutch? (or where you had it in Amsterdam?)

I had it at cafe de Jaren. The menu I looked at was in English, so I can't tell you what they called it in Dutch. It definitely didn't *taste* overcooked. The crumb of it was dry-ish ... not as dry as cake, but not as moist as I imagine a clafoutis would be. Nothing like a lemon curd which has a gooey-jelly-creamy sort of quality.

Clafoutis recipes vary -- if you add more flour, the texture is firmer and not as "gooey" -- could it have been a recipe along those lines?

Could it have been a lemony quarktorte or ricotta tart? The dessert that haunts me looks and sounds very familiar, but it was ricotta based; I had it in a restaurant in Quebec's Baie St. Paul...

http://rosas-yummy-yums.blogspot.com/2007/07/quarktorte-swiss-quark-cheese-tart.html

I agree with mschatelaine; I missed that word "gooey" in the original question, and I don't think that a clafoutis should really be gooey. Mine are usually quite firm and rather eggy, after they've cooled.

This is totally making me want to experiment; I love lemon desserts!

Oh, I love De Jaren! The dutch menu doesn't give more clarification. It just says citroentaart: lemonpie/ lemoncake.
So, my best guess looking at the picture is that this is a baked 'kwarktaart', a sort of cheesecake, but then with quark instead of cream cheese. It's bit more tart than cheesecake, and the consistency is a bit more gooey. This seems like a good recipe: http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipes.recipeListing/filter/dianas/recipeID/2244/Recipe.cfm although it says the baked version of quarkcakes are german. Most Dutch kwarktaarten are actually not baked, those are very good as well.
It's a bit of a long shot... It could also be similar to this recipe for a fluffy lemoncake: http://www.smulweb.nl/1363212/koken/recept/Luchtige-citroentaart
translated: ingredients: 6 eggs, 380 grams sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, juice and grated peel of 1 lemon, 185 grams flower.
Sieve the flower. Put the eggs in a big bowl and mix them with the sugar until light and fluffy (~15 minutes!). Mix in the lemon juice and peel. Fold in the flower. Spoon into a greased springform and bake for an hour and 10 minutes at 160 degrees (Celcius).