A tart to brighten your day

Summer is here and that means it is time for everything lemon.  Yes…you will see lemons in a ton of recipes over the next few months.  I cannot get enough lemon in my life…especially in the summer!

A tart … yes a tart

Ok now I know these like bars and you can call them that for sure, but they are made in a tart pan so a tart they will be.  

Can I just tell you how much I love my tart pan.  It makes the most beautiful desserts (like this berry tart) and it is so easy to clean, which is always a plus.  

Check out the vanilla beans…

The thing for me that really takes this lemon tart over the top is the addition of  Vanilla Bean Paste.  Yes Vanilla Bean Paste takes this dessert to the next level.   It adds the perfect hint of vanilla yumminess with little vanilla beans running through the dessert and the smell, oh my I love the smell of vanilla bean.

If you don’t have vanilla bean paste thats ok, you can use vanilla extract but if you can you should really try vanilla bean paste.  I use it in almost all my baked goods.  I order it from Amazon but you can find it at nicer grocery stores and specially kitchen stores (such as William Sonoma or Sur La Table).  

You can also use vanilla extract with fresh vanilla beans scraped from the pod…which would be AMAZING!  I love the paste because it takes all the work out of scraping the pods with all the benefit of the vanilla beans.

It is lemon tart time…

[mpprecipe-recipe:338]

Lets talk crust…

For this tart I used a shortbread crust.  I love the buttery texture of this crust and how it crisps up on the edges.  It holds it shape beautifully making it a pretty finished tart.

You could use another tart crust you prefer, but I really think this shortbread crust is the best by far!!  If you try something else let me know though…I love hearing what y’all love!!