ingredients:
for the crust: 1.25 cups of flour, half a teaspoon of salt, 5 tablespoons of powdered sugar, 140g of cold butter (cut into small pieces)
for the curd: 1.5 cups of regular sugar, 3 whole eggs, 9 egg yolks, 1.5 cups of lemon juice (I needed 7 lemons), 110g of cold butter (cut into small pieces)
1. grease a baking dish and line with paper; I used a porcelain dish (25cm x 25cm) but you can use whatever you want as long as it won't react with acid from the lemons (same goes with pot you'll be using to make the curd)
2. combine flour, salt and powdered sugar in a bowl; add cold butter and use your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients; you're done when the dough is uniform and there are no dry pieces; work quickly so the butter doesn't melt; if it gets too sticky then put in the freezer for 5 minutes; put the dough into the baking dish so it forms an even layer; stick it into the fridge for 5 minutes; take it out and use a fork to make some holes so the steam can escape; bake for 25-30 minutes (or until golden) at 180 degrees
3. lower the temperature in the oven to 160 degrees
4. while the crust bakes combine sugar and eggs in a pot (use a bigger pot than you think you're going to need, the curd is going to increase in volume towards the end of cooking) and whisk them together until the mixture thickens and lightens in color (you can do this by hand or use an electric mixer, but it's way faster with a mixer); then slowly stream in lemon juice while constantly mixing; when it's done transfer the pot onto a stove; stir constantly while cooking on small heat until it thickens significantly; turn the heat off and add the butter, piece by piece, while constantly stirring (don't add another piece of butter if the previous one hasn't melted yet)
5. pour the hot curd into the baking dish, don't scrape the bottom of the pot because there's probably some burnt curd; you can pour through a sieve to catch solid bits of the curd but it's not necessary; smooth the surface of the curd and put the dish into the oven; bake for 25-30 minutes at 160 degrees
6. it's kind of hard to explain how it should look when it's done, but the surface should be a little puffed and lifted, and it should jiggle when moved (it'll properly set when cold) - it's better to take it out too early because it'll still cook from residual heat (and it won't crack)
7. take it out of the oven and let it cool for a few hours, then cover with plastic wrap or whatever (just not aluminum) and put into the fridge for another couple of hours
8. sprinkle with powdered sugar right before serving
9. mahlzeit
also, you can add less lemon juice if you're not a fan or sourness (just substitute with water so you're adding the same amount of liquids)
the recipe is from this video which is definitely more informative than my instructions, so watch it
YouTube: 9MzkLFv3yAs