Reviving Julia's Recipe

A vintage lemon tart gets a makeover

There is a lot going on these days. Just last night before gong to bed I was listening to a podcast about the upcoming federal election here in Canada. Trump talk and especially tariff talk is never-ending. My stressed-out kids are wrapping up their classes at University. I’m working on the edit of not one but two books, collaborating on an exciting new project that I’ll be talking about more this Wednesday, and planning a trip for my niece’s upcoming nuptials (by the way, if you know anyone who can babysit my dog for 10 days this summer, please let me know).

I’m sure you have a lot going on too. And when you have a lot going on, sometimes it’s nice to just take a break and try out a fun recipe. And the recipe I’m featuring here is from an old-school source: Julia Child.

The other day my son asked whether I ever cooked rabbit, which made me remember a biscuit-topped rabbit stew I made years ago from a Julia Child recipe. A friend of mine was leaving on a backpacking trip through Europe so I invited her and a few friends over for dinner to celebrate her birthday before she left. For some overly-ambitious reason I decided to tackle this rabbit recipe from the book Julia Child & More Company, which I perused often. Published in 1979, the book is smartly divided into menus, and the leek and rabbit pie was part of a Country Dinner spread. I made that rabbit pie, and to my utter dismay most of the young women at that dinner wouldn’t touch it because it was rabbit. Oy!

Despite such risqué recipes, I still consult the book often because it’s just so appealingly retro, and every time I do I stop at the same “I gotta make this” recipe for a cream cheese and lemon flan. So for a dinner party last night (I always bring dessert), I finally made it.

Whenever making an older recipe there will always be some adjustments to be made. Julia makes her tart with a french flan ring, which basically no one has on hand. So use a French tart ring with a removable bottom. Also, the base recipe does not require pre-baking the crust, though it is suggested in a sidebar. Instead Julia recommends baking it on a pizza stone. Great idea, but once you put a liquid filling on a raw pastry base, there’s a good chance the dough will remain raw in the middle. So I suggest ditching that idea and going with a fully blind-baked crust before proceeding. You will find the instructions and a recipe for the base dough (pâte sucrée, sweet shortcrust pastry here).

This filling is a breeze to make as it’s all just whipped up in a blender. I’ve made adjustments with the method and the baking times (Julia went a bit overboard there) and the result is a simply delicious tart similar to a cheesecake but lighter and not overly rich. I serve it with strawberry coulis. It’s definitely a recipe worth reviving.

Maybe next time, I’ll tackle the rabbit stew again!