This sweet tea lemonade tart is everything you love about an “Arnold Palmer” made into a custard and served in an animal cracker crust!
Happy lemonade day! Seriously – today is “National Lemonade Day“. I figured that you guys could go just about anywhere and get a recipe for lemonade (though that doesn’t mean I’ll never do lemonade for you) so I made you a sweet tea lemonade tart.
I love pretty much everything lemon…lemon pie, lemon ice cream, lemonade, lemon cake, what have you. I discovered this summer that I also like the ubiquitous combination of sweet tea and lemonade known as the Arnold Palmer or the half and half. You’ll never guess where I discovered that: Starbucks.
I usually don’t even go to Starbucks, just because I can’t bear to pay those prices for something that I can make at home for just a few cents. However, this summer I went there with a couple of friends, one of whom was getting ready to drive to Knoxville at 10:00 p.m., so she needed a venti iced coffee. I chose a shaken sweet tea lemonade, AKA an Arnold Palmer.
That got me thinking: wouldn’t the tea & lemonade combo be great in a dessert? I noticed a few weeks ago multiple Facebook friends were posting pictures of a sweet tea and lemonade cake, which I quickly figured out had come from a recent issue of Southern Living. Then I saw a lemon cheesecake in my Cook’s Illustrated Baking Book and all of a sudden I had an epiphany. Sweet tea lemonade tart….hmmm.
I borrowed the idea of the animal cracker crust from the lemon cheesecake recipe, though I actually got the proportions from ol’ Betty Crocker. As for the filling, Ina Garten never fails to deliver fantastic recipes…so I infused some lemon juice with Luzianne tea bags and made curd from it. Perfect.
I took this to a Sunday lunch at my church. Not a single piece of it was left….except the piece that I cut out of it for photos then stashed in my fridge, because, you know, you can’t take a bite then put it back in the pan. And the cook has to have a snack for later!
This sweet tea lemonade tart was perfect, tart, sweet, cold, gooey….delicious.
What’s your favorite lemon dessert?
Mary
Yield: 1 9-inch tart
The recipe for the animal cracker crust is from Betty Crocker . The filling is adapted from Ina Garten's page on FoodNetwork.com .
20 minPrep Time:
20 minCook Time:
40 minTotal Time:
Save RecipeIngredients
- 8 ounces Barnum animal crackers
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- juice of 5 lemons
- 2 family-size tea bags
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 stick butter, at room temperature
- 4 large eggs
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- whipped cream, for serving (optional)
- lemon slices, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- To make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Process the animal crackers to a fine crumb in a food processor. Scrape into a bowl and add the melted butter and sugar. Stir together until completely combined. Press into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.
- While the crust is cooling, make the filling: Juice the lemons and heat for about 1 minute in the microwave. Steep the tea bags in the lemon juice for about five minutes. Press as much liquid out of the tea bags as possible then discard the tea bags. Add enough water to the lemon juice/tea mixture to make ½ cup. Using an electric mixer, cream together the sugar and butter. Add the salt then add the eggs one at a time. FInally, add the lemon juice and mix until well combined.
- Place the lemon mixture into a 2-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened (about 175 degrees, just below a simmer). Pour into the tart shell and allow to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Serve cold, garnished with whipped cream and lemon slices.
Notes
The prep time does not include 3 hours of inactive prep time to chill the tart.
Comments