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Tarte au Citron

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Tarte au Citron

Postby Pepper Pig » Wed Feb 17, 2021 9:08 pm

Back in the early BBC Messageboards days this was something of a benchmark. I am not sure Felicity has nailed it,

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/f ... ity-cloake

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Re: Tarte au Citron

Postby Stokey Sue » Wed Feb 17, 2021 10:03 pm

I notice she hasn’t done it as “The Perfect… “ where she’d go into the difference between different kinds of tarte au citron, and I’d say that there are curd style and those with a more cream based filling

I don think that is a French tarte au citron - I think that’s and English lemon curd tart

M Raymond Blanc’s recipe is far more the style

https://www.raymondblanc.com/recipes/lemon-tart/

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Re: Tarte au Citron

Postby Earthmaiden » Wed Feb 17, 2021 11:08 pm

I quite agree, Sue.

Does anyone remember a craze for brushing the pastry case with melted plain chocolate?

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Re: Tarte au Citron

Postby Stokey Sue » Thu Feb 18, 2021 1:07 am

I think Patisserie Valerie used to do that with quite a lot of their pastries as waterproofing, so they wouldn’t develop a soggy bottom on standing

I loved Patisserie Valerie when there were about 3 of them staffed by middle aged ladies and one Italian Adonis per branch to tend to the Gaggia machine and carry out the crates. It got out of hand later

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Re: Tarte au Citron

Postby Binky » Thu Feb 18, 2021 12:34 pm

Sue, there was one within walking distance of the V&A. This was about 35 years ago, long before the explosion of their branches.

I thought myself quite the sophisticate having a proper French coffee and a piece of gateau after a dose of culture at the museum. Happy days.

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Re: Tarte au Citron

Postby aero280 » Thu Feb 18, 2021 12:45 pm

If I’m doing a pale coloured tart, I line the pastry with melted white chocolate.

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Re: Tarte au Citron

Postby Earthmaiden » Thu Feb 18, 2021 1:01 pm

That sounds nice aero.

I only came across Patisserie Valerie some years later on a disastrous visit (think Fawlty Towers) to Cribbs Causeway shopping mall in Bristol. I vowed I'd never visit another but was given an afternoon tea voucher when I retired and it was excellent (not in Bristol!).

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Re: Tarte au Citron

Postby Stokey Sue » Thu Feb 18, 2021 1:10 pm

I think the original PV was behind St John’s Hospital in Soho, but I said 3 branches because I remember the Kensington one Binky mentions and one upstairs on Sloane Street, and I think there might have been another I never went to - this would be circa 1980

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Re: Tarte au Citron

Postby Amyw » Thu Feb 18, 2021 3:26 pm

We have a Patisserie Valerie in Exeter . Their window displays always look amazing . Some of their cakes I’ve tried have been a little all looks , no substance but they do an excellent Portuguese custard tart and I’ve heard a good breakfast too

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Re: Tarte au Citron

Postby Seatallan » Thu Feb 18, 2021 3:33 pm

There was one in Reading. We had a cream tea there once, which was fab. Mr S also liked their seriously calorific takeaway cakes, especially the Black Forest Slices. I have a feeling it closed not long after we left but I may be wrong.

Going back to Tarte au Citron, a good one is hard to beat. One of the local bakeries makes excellent ones. :yum
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Re: Tarte au Citron

Postby KeenCook2 » Thu Feb 18, 2021 3:55 pm

Wasn't PV caught up in some financial stuff a few years ago, which resulted in several closing? I vaguely remember that and also that at the time I thought they'd expanded too much, with PVs popping up all over the place. A bit like Paul's has done.
They used to do an amazing deep apple cake/tart thingy, and one of my friends was convinced their Portuguese custard tarts were the best - which I never thought, tbh ....

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Re: Tarte au Citron

Postby Seatallan » Thu Feb 18, 2021 3:57 pm

KC2, yes- their top accountant was cooking the books if I recall correctly. Don't know what happened to him. That's when the Reading branch closed (I think- it was certainly one of the branches that was under threat).
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Re: Tarte au Citron

Postby aero280 » Thu Feb 18, 2021 4:25 pm

I have regularly patronised the Patisserie Valerie at Marylebone Station. It's handy if I arrive early for a monthly meeting nearby. The pastries and coffee have always been fine, but not stunning.

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Re: Tarte au Citron

Postby slimpersoninside » Thu Feb 18, 2021 4:27 pm

PV used to be our place of choice for lunch if we were out and about. Hubby has food intolerance issues and we knew what he could and couldn't eat, it was quite nice too.

When they closed shops due to their financial difficulties we were appalled at the reported treatment of staff and have boycotted them ever since.

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Re: Tarte au Citron

Postby Pampy » Thu Feb 18, 2021 5:23 pm

One of the PV senior people seems to be a bit of a chancer, if media accounts are to be believed.

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Re: Tarte au Citron

Postby ZeroCook » Sat Feb 20, 2021 7:27 pm

Getting back to Tarte au Citron, which I've only made once and was not very happy with - was somewhat like the Raymond Blanc recipe - thin and fiddly didn't set properly ...

A friend in warmer climes recently sent some beautiful citrus, including half a dozen plump Meyer lemons, which I wanted to something special with. Ive always done very well with Roux brothers recipes and looked for their tarte au citron recipe. Has anyone made it?

https://culinarycamel.wordpress.com/201 ... ot-worthy/

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