Layered Lemon Tart & Mother's Day Giveaway with Cuisinart (Contest Closed)

This is an exciting post for me to write because it has a lot of good things going for it. First off this whole post is to celebrate Mother's Day and all the wonderful moms out there (especially mine) who deserve a special day.

Secondly there is a tart. A lemony, creamy, tangy tart topped with whipping cream and any kind of fruit you wish. (It is a very very good thing. The kind of thing that children who love their mothers make for Mother's Day)

And thirdly I've paired up with Cuisinart for an awesome giveaway so that you can make your mom all sorts of delicious stuff (or even give her the prize if you win, making you the obvious choice for the Favorite Child Award).

 

The prize is a Cuisinart Elite Collection 12-Cup (3 L) Food Processor so that you (or your mom hint hint) can get busy chopping and mixing in the kitchen.

It makes a lot of tasks in the kitchen a whole lot easier (like grating tons of cheese) and has an excellent warranty. I am personally extremely hard on my electronics and appliances (apologies to my phone, cameras, oven, etc) but I still expect them to last and work well. This food processor has a ten year motor warranty so you know that it will be working away in your kitchen for years to come.

A few of the other features include:

• a 4 cup bowl and a 12 cup bowl so that you can choose bowl size according to how big your chopping/mixing task is
• adjustable slicing plate, reversible shredding plate, two chopping blades, and a dough blade.
• both a large and a small feed tube
• die-cast metal housing

 
To test out the food processor for myself I decided to try out a tart dough for a couple of reasons. The first one is that my mom enjoys quiches and tarts so whipping up a batch of dough for Mother's Day seemed like a good plan. Secondly, pie and tart dough is my weakness/nemesis and I spend a good amount of time avoiding recipes that use it or trying those recipes and being sad about my lack of pie dough skills. I've gotten better with practice but I was hoping that using the food processor would improve my final result.

 

First very cold butter is pulsed with flour, sugar, and salt until it looks all crumbly.

 

Then ice water is poured in while the food processor is pulsed until the dough just comes together. The whole process only took a few minutes. The dough gets split in two pieces, wrapped in plastic and put into the fridge to chill.

 

After chilling it gets rolled out and placed in a nine inch tart pan. I was really happy with how workable the dough was.Then the tart shell gets baked and left to cool.

 

While the tart shell was cooling I used the food processor to make the first layer of the filling. In the smaller bowl with the chopping blade I put some softened cream cheese, lemon juice, orange and lemon zest, whipping cream, and sugar...

 

..and whipped them together into a tangy creamy filling which I spread in a thin layer on the cooled tart shell.

 

Next came a generous layer of lemon curd. Why have one layer of lemon flavor when you can have two? I put the tart into the fridge to set a bit so that the lemon curd wouldn't get mixed up in the next layer.

 

While it was setting I poured chilled whipping cream, a little bit of powdered sugar, and vanilla into the big bowl of the food processor and processed it until it was thick and fluffy. Clean up was easy: I just stuck the bowls from the food processor in the dishwasher (yay dishwasher safe). Done and done.

 

The whole tart got decorated with strawberries, kiwis, and mangoes. The letters were made by using cookie cutters on slices of mangoes. (Love you mom!)

 

To get cleaner slices I let the tart chill in the freezer for a bit before cutting it.

So so tasty: flaky tart crust (yay!) with two creamy and tangy lemon layers is perfect for a Mother's Day celebration.

Playing around with the food processor was so fun that I ended up trying out a whole bunch of recipes and I'll be posting more of my favorites before the giveaway ends.

 

Tart Dough

 (from Baking Bites)

2 2/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 cup butter, chilled and cut into pieces
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice water

1. In the large bowl of your food processor put the flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse a few times to mix together.

2. Add the chilled butter and pulse until the dough is crumbly

3. Pour the ice water in slowly and use longer pulses to get the dough to come together. It will still look a bit crumbly but will hold together well when squeezed.

4. Divide the dough in half, press into two disks, wrap in plastic and let chill in the fridge for 1 - 2 hours. (You can freeze the second half because this recipe only uses one disk)

5. Roll out the chilled dough and line a 9 inch tart pan. Cover in foil and place pie weights or dried beans on it and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden. Let chill before filling.

Lemon Cream Cheese Layer

1 package of softened cream cheese (8oz)

1 tbsp of orange zest

1.5 tbsp of lemon zest

2 tsp lemon juice

1/3 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup sugar (or to taste)

1. Place the softened cream cheese, the zests, and lemon juice in the small bowl of the food processor. Pulse until all the ingredients have combined

2. Add the whipping cream and pulse until smooth. Then add the sugar and sweeten to your liking.

3. Spread on the bottom of the tart shell and place in the fridge or freeze to firm up before adding the next layer.

Lemon Curd

I use Martha Stewart's recipe: Lemon Curd

You can also buy lemon curd in the jam section at the grocery store if you are short on time.

Whipped Cream

1 cup whipping cream

3-4 tbsp powdered sugar (or to taste)

2 tsp vanilla

1. Combine in the large bowl of the food processor fitted with the chopping blades. Turn the food processor on and let it whip the cream until thick and fluffy.

 

  HOW TO ENTER (it's really easy)

Leave a comment below telling me what your mom's favorite dessert is.

A winner will be chosen randomly on May 13 (Mothers Day!)

If you want to get some extra chances to win you can enter up to four more times by doing the things listed below (one separate comment each)

1. Tweet about the giveaway and then comment with a link to your tweet.  Use this tweet: "Mother's Day Giveaway! Win a Cuisinart Food Processor #yaymoms http://tinyurl.com/cp3soph "

2. Follow @Clock_worklemon on Twitter. Comment with your twitter handle

3. Pin this post on Pinterest with the caption  "Mother's Day Giveaway: Win a Cuisinart Elite Food Processor with Clockwork Lemon" (you can use the "pin it" button at the bottom of the post) then leave a comment with a link to the pin

4. Post the giveaway on your facebook (you can use the facebook "like" button at the bottom of the post) then leave a comment saying that you posted it.

And the winner is: Ashley!

 This giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the USA only

Full Disclosure: Cuisinart is sponsoring this giveaway and has provided one food processor for product review and one for a prize giveaway. All opinions are my own

Monj Llorente

Comments

[Adele]

My mom's favorite desert is tiger bark. Yummy peanut butter chocolate-y goodness :)

[Mary at n00bcakes]

Wow Stephanie, that tart is *beautiful*! I still haven't made curd yet...another item on my to-do list. :D

...Also my mom's favorite dessert is always chocolate cake. Always! ^_^

[Noelle Belanger]

My mom's favorite dessert is chocolate fondue.

[Laura Grace]

My mom is definitely a chocolate person...and when we're feeling HUGELY decadent, it's the cakes and tortes at Edelweiss that we both go for!

[Laura Grace]

Also follow you on Twitter and tweeted the blurb! Handle is @lgolebiowski!

[A_lil_b]

Moms dessert - most everything (I'm after her own heart...)

But probably, I'll have to go with tart au chocolat!

twitter handle @a_lil_b

[Weird Bug Lady]

My mom loves ice cream! There are always several boxes in the freezer.

And whenever she gets a cake, it's usually a lemon cake. Yummmm.

I just followed you on twitter, I am @weirdbuglady

That tart recipe looks delicious... I'm gluten-free and dairy-free now, so I'll just drool and imagine how yummy it is...

[Beth]

My mom's favorite dessert is cheesecake with strawberries. I'm happy to oblige :o)

[Brittany]

My mom is a big Whoopie Pie fan! I guess these are really only popular in New England and everyone has a recipe and a way that they like them, so she is very picky about the ingredients of the filling - but man does she love them when they are made right!

[Brittany]

I follow with Twitter! (@Bitty603)

[Tahnis]

Hi Stephanie,
My mom makes a killer lemon pie but I think when it comes to herself, one of her favourites is carrot cake with cream cheese icing. I always think it is fitting because her birthday is in the fall when the leaves are orange and we've harvested orange carrots fresh from the garden and she has orange hair.

Plus it would be extra good if I won this prize because I was the person who broke her food processor and turned it into a dangerous blade-spinning machine so she needs a new one.

[Spindle]

From recollection, I think my mom's favorite dessert was fresh strawberry ice cream.

[Nicole]

That looks so good Stephanie. I may just have to make it for my mom. Her favourite is carrot cake with cream cheese icing, but I can see the layered lemon tart taking its place.

pinned http://pinterest.com/pin/8092474300732165/

tweeted and following (@maythenwolfbane)

shared on facebook

[Alison]

My mom loves Rhubarb pie!
Has wanted a Cuisinart forever! Would love to win this for her :)

[Lori Anne]

AH, Thank you Stephanie for the wonderful comments! I love being your Mom!

[amy marantino]

my Mom likes rice pudding best

[LoriW]

My Mom's favourite dessert is a blueberry cheesecake square. She loves using the local berries in our subarctic environ (also lingonberry and cloudberry). It would be great to win the Cuisinart processor for our mother-daughter kitchen adventures!

[amy marantino]

I follow @Clock_worklemon on twitter (@onitnaram)

[amy marantino]

i tweeted about the giveaweay (@onitnaram)

[LoriW]

Tweeted, "Gonna win my Mom a "Mother's Day Giveaway! Win a Cuisinart Food Processor #yaymoms http://tinyurl.com/cp3soph" (@lolablanco)

[LoriW]

Started following @Clock_worklemon on Twitter! (@lolablanco)

[Abby]

Honestly, I have no clue what my mother's favourite dessert is, but I sustect it's apple crumble.

[Abby]

I follow Clockwork Lemon on Twitter @preheatyouroven.

[LoriW]

Pinned to my Food Yum board! http://bit.ly/IWwAtq

[Abby]

I pinned this post.

http://pinterest.com/pin/144115256796161525/

[Christina]

My mom is easy. Her favorite dessert involves a brownie, chocolate ice cream and Chocolate syrup. Yum :)

[Kellie]

My mom's favorite dessert is fresh strawberry pie, unfortunately, from a bakery that has closed. I'm going to try to recreate it for her this year for Mother's Day!

[Beqi]

I'm not sure which I want more, the tart or the Cuisinart... Anyway, my mom loves anything with white chocolate. The white chocolate coated oreos I hand-dipped for her last Christmas went over quite well!

[Christina]

I pinned this post!
http://pinterest.com/pin/4574037091889497/

[Lauren]

Pumpkin Pie!

[Emily Nichols]

My momma loves a good chocolate souffle. And I dare say she makes the best ever! I'm always jealous when I go home and she has a few ready to bake already prepared in her freezer!

[Richelle]

My mom's favorite dessert is a filipino rice cake called puto. She likes it plain, but also with cream cheese or butter.

[Richelle]

http://pinterest.com/pin/211387776229951538/

I pinned this! :D

[Jennifer Schafer]

My mother's favorite dessert is strawberry shortcake! Every June we always pick strawberries for a whole day. We freeze and make jam with most of them. It's a lot of work, but the strawberry shortcake at the end of the day is so worth it!

[Eliza]

My mom's favourite dessert is eclaires. Maybe one day I'll actually try making them from scratch!

[Megan]

My mother loves chocolate lava cakes. Or really anything that has an obscene amount of chocolate in it.

[Jen]

What a cute pie! Unfortunately I cannot ask my mom anymore what her favorite dessert was. To be honest I never say my mom eat a lot of sweets. I would think something that has coffee and icecream in it would have made her happy :-)

[Lora]

My mother loves everything. She has quite the sweet tooth but I would have to say apple strudel is probably her favorite. Eve better when topped with ice cream.

[Becs @ Lay the table]

Oh those mango letters are too cute! Tart looks divine, I love citrus with cream cheese, it cuts the fatty feeling (and therefore the guilt)

[Les]

Mom's favorite is angel food cake though I don't think she'd admit it...
I love lemon anything.

[Jennifer]

My mom loves custard.

[Denise L]

My mom's favorite dessert was cheesecake. Wish I could still make her one...

[Denise L]

Following you on twitter @dmarie824.

[Denise L]

tweeted!
https://twitter.com/dmarie824/status/197812447090974720

[Denise L]

Pinned too!
http://pinterest.com/pin/97460779406288533/

[Dominique Rose]

Fruit Tarts for sure are my mom's fave...I think this one is going to the tippy top of her list!

[Sara Beckman]

I'm totally going to have to try this tart! Looks so delicious.

Also my mom's favorite dessert is something she doesn't get very often - bread pudding!

[Grace Mehan]

I would have to say my mother's favorite dessert is cherry pie and ice cream, but I think she'd love this tart too.

[Sara Beckman]

Hello new twitter friend! Tweeted it across the library/archives world. https://twitter.com/#!/BookwormBeckman/status/197818418181849092

[Ann]

My mom, who really didn't like sweets, LOVED lemon meringue pie. It used to crack me up to see her eat stuff like that. I lost her in 2010, but I am so thankful for all the time we did have.