Anne of Green Gables: Lemon Lavender Tart

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“Since you are determined to be married, Miss Cornelia," said Gilbert solemnly, "I shall give you the excellent rules for the management of a husband which my grandmother gave my mother when she married my father."

"Well, I reckon I can manage Marshall Elliott," said Miss Cornelia placidly. "But let us hear your rules."

"The first one is, catch him."

"He's caught. Go on."

"The second one is, feed him well."

"With enough pie. What next?"

"The third and fourth are-- keep your eye on him.”

~ Lucy Maude Montgomery from Anne's House of Dreams

Dumb things husbands say #21: "You should take cooking lessons from my mom."

In Hubby's defense, his mom is like a super human mutant combo of Martha Stewart and Julia Child, only with a way better figure than either of them. And he honestly thought he was suggesting a fun activity, instead of insulting every thing I had ever placed on our table up to that point. Silly man.

Flash forward a year to our first real Thanksgiving away from our families. I cooked a masterpiece meal of Panzanella, Winter Vegetable Soup, Cardamom Cranberry Sauce, Citrus Stuffed Turkey,  a whole lot of other stuff that I can no longer remember, and an assortment of eight pies. This might have been overshooting the mark (Especially considering that we were only feeding us and another couple), but I had something to prove. At the end of it all, he looked at me with big eyes and said, "Honey, I knew you could make good food and all, but you can really COOK!" Maybe it was just the pies talking, but I have never been so proud.

All that being said, I can tell you right now that when he gets home from work tonight, he will wonder why I stuck flowers in the crust, and proceed to tell me "You know what would make this better?" And the answer is almost always "Steak."

Ladies, you understand. I know you do. So here it is:

Lavender Lemon Tart
by BeBookBound
(Filling adapted from America's Test Kitchen)

Crust:
1 1/4 C. All Purpose Flour
1 TBSP Lavender Flowers
1 TBSP Sugar
1/4 C cold butter
1/4 C Shortening
 Water

Pulse the flour, lavender, and sugar together in food processor to combine and break up the flowers a bit (Mine were dried) and add the fats, pulsing til you get a crumb texture. Then add water a tablespoon at a time until you have a dough. Mine only took about 3 tablespoons.

Press into bottom and sides of a tart pan. Freeze for half and hour and preheat oven to 350.  Bake with pie weights for about 30 minutes, or until it turns golden.

WHILE that is cooking, make the filling.

Filling:
2/3 C Lemon Juice
Zest of those lemons
1 1/2 C Sugar
7 Egg yolks
2 whole eggs
1/4 C Butter
Pinch Salt
3 TBSP heavy Cream

Combine all ingredients except the cream in a sauce pan (Non reactive) and cook at medium low heat until it thickens into a "thin sauce" consistency. (About 5 minutes.) Then strain through a sieve and add the cream. Pour into the shell hot from the oven and return to bake for 10-15 minutes (Until center just jiggles and the rest is set. Cool and enjoy!

Happy Eating!!


Linking Up:

Lil' Luna -  Savvy SouthernStyle - A Delightsome Life
Delightful Order  - StoneGable