Matcha & Lemon Posset Tarts

Name: Matcha & Lemon Posset Tarts
Yield: 10
Cuisine: American

RECIPE: Excerpted with permission from A Good Day to Bake by Benjamina Ebuehi. Published by Quadrille, March 2022.

Photo: Laura Edwards

February 28, 2022

Matcha tarts evoke the grassy, green goodness of spring.

“Herbs and teas are such staple and loyal members of our kitchens, yet don’t always get a look in when it comes to baking,” writes cook, food stylist, and author Benjamina Ebuehi. Ebuehi, a Great British Bake Off quarterfinalist and Guardian columnist, pens an entire chapter of baked goods devoted to these oft-overlooked items in her beautiful book, A Good Day to Bake. Noting how well herbs and teas impart delicate flavor and complexity to baking, Ebuehi employs matcha in a traditional lemon posset tart to “bring a bit of nature indoors,” she writes. “This is such a simple little pudding that comes together in no time, ideal for a make-ahead dessert that doesn’t require too much effort.”

Ingredients

Yield:5

For the Pastry
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cubed
Generous 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
2 egg yolks
Scant 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1/4 tsp. salt
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For the Filling
½ cup caster sugar
Zest of 1 lemon, grated
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice ( from about 1 to 1½ lemons)
2½ tsp. matcha, plus extra for dusting
Generous 1¼ cups heavy cream

Preparation

To make the pastry, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla together by hand or with an electric whisk until you have a smooth, thick paste. Add the egg yolks and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl every so often. Add the flour and salt and mix briefly on low speed until just combined. Tip the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and pat it into a thick rectangle. Wrap it up and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour or until firm.

Get five 3-inch round tart pans ready; there’s no need to grease them. Lightly flour your work surface and roll the pastry out to ⅛-inch thick. Cut out 5 circles a few centimeters wider than your tart pans. Press each piece into the pans, making sure to press the dough into the edges or corners and leaving the excess pastry overhanging the edges. Place the tart pans on a baking sheet and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once chilled, trim off the overhanging pastry with a sharp knife and prick the bases with a fork. Scrunch up pieces of parchment paper slightly larger than the pans and place them inside, pressing the paper into all the corners. Fill with dried rice or baking beans and blind bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the edges are lightly golden. Remove the paper and baking beans and return the tart cases to the oven for a further 10 to 12 minutes until golden. Leave to cool.

To make the filling, gently heat the sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer until the sugar dissolves. Add the matcha to a small bowl and mix in about 1 tablespoon of the lemon syrup. Mix thoroughly to get a thick paste before adding another couple of tablespoons of syrup and mixing well—use a bamboo matcha whisk if you have one to help dissolve most of the smaller lumps. Pour in the rest of the syrup and set aside.

In another saucepan, gently bring the cream to a boil, stirring often. Pour in the matcha syrup and whisk well to mix. Remove from the heat and pour the mixture through a sieve to get rid of any stray lumps. Fill the cooled tart cases with the mixture and let them cool at room temperature before chilling for 2–3 hours until set. Dust with a little extra matcha before serving.