Tarte au citron: serve up a slice of sunshine

There is something inherently uplifting about a lemon. Even in literal or figurative dark times, lemons shine bright – little bumpy orbs of joy that cry out from the fruit bowl or the greengrocers to be turned into something mouth-puckering or, once paired with enough sugar, that perfect balance of sweet-sour. Perhaps I am overly sentimental, but lemons always strike me as cheering, and full of promise. Lemon curd was one of the first things I learnt to make when I began cooking, but I’ve held off turning it into a tart for a while, unable to work out how to create the exact pudding I wanted to eat.

For a long time, I have wanted to make this perfect lemon tart, but have been thwarted in my attempts. I have strong opinions on the ideal tarte au citron: I want a tart almost shocking in its lemoniness, so ridiculously zesty that it elicits inadvertent exclamations on eating.