Lemon Tart Three Ways

I spent all day Sunday trying to perfect the not so simple lemon tart/lemon square/triangle. Armed with recipes from Martha Stewart, the Barefoot Contessa and Emeril, I created lemon tartlettes, lemon triangles/squares and each with or without meringue. I won't post any of the recipes for none of them have worked for me yet. I'm seeking perfection and so far no. Don't get me wrong, they all taste great but none have that "POP" I'm looking for.

Why am I doing this? Well, this coming Satuday is the 2nd Backyard Event in Southern California. Some BBQ friends and teams are getting together to Que. Not a competition, just a group of ten teams that want to practice as if there was a competition and be judged by real KCBS judges and peers.

The last two competitions found that Lemon Squares won in the dessert category. Let me clarify, there were some fantastic entries with Iron Chef quality presentaions but simple lemon squares took 1st. Maybe I am a day late and a dollar short, but I have to see how I fare.

To top off this competition, I also went out Saturday to purchase plating acoutremonts which includes platters and plate decorations in addition to edible plants such as mint.

I found a couple of other recipes I'm going to try later this week. Each with some slight change which night make this work. Basic recipe is for lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs or egg yolk, with or without butter, with or without flour, candied ginger, bake or slowly thicken over low heat. Who knew there were so many different variants on a theme. By Saturday, I will be ready.

Check out my pictures of to date presentations.