Veteran bestselling cookbook author Tessa Kiros brings readers Now & Then: A Collection of Recipes for Always (Murdoch Books / October 3, 2023 / $50) - a curated collection of recipes that warm the heart and kitchen. Now & Then is her eleventh cookbook and it’s her definitive new work: 150-plus recipes with gorgeous lifestyle photography reflecting on the food that has shaped her, but also encompassing her table today.

For this Sugar Lemon Tart recipe, you will need two 20 cm (8 in) springform tins.

Ingredients

Base

  • 230 g (8½ oz) best quality unsalted butter
  • 280 g (10 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour 
  • 80 g (2¾ oz) icing (confectioners) sugar

Filling

  • 2 eggs
  • 5 tablespoons lemon juice 
  • 40 g (1½ oz)
  • 4 tablespoons ) plain (all-purpose) flour 
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • scant ½ teaspoon salt 
  • 280 g (10 oz) sugar
  • A few drops of vanilla extract
  • A little icing (confectioners) sugar, for sifting

Directions

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). 

To make the base, melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed medium pot over a low heat. Remove from the heat. Add in the flour and the icing sugar, mixing at first with a wooden spoon and then, when it cools down a little, with your hands to combine. Divide the mix in half and press onto the bottoms of 2 x 20 cm (8 in) springform tins (you don’t need to go up the sides here). Make sure the bases are quite firm and even. Bake the bases for 20 minutes (no more), swapping them around in the oven halfway through cooking so they are evenly pale golden, then remove.

Meanwhile, make the filling. In a wide metal bowl, whip the eggs until creamy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the lemon juice. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt, then stir in the sugar. Add to the eggs along with the vanilla and beat in well. Scrape evenly over the 2 crusts being sure to cover the edges. 

Lower the oven just a little to 175°C (325°F) and bake for 20 minutes, until set and pale gold on top, again swapping the tins around halfway through cooking. Remove from the oven and sift a very little icing sugar over while still hot. 

Slip a dull knife around the sides to make sure no caramelized edge is stuck to the tins while still warm, then leave to cool in the tins. Serve the tarts at room temperature. They are good the next day too, but don’t store in the fridge.