Ingredients :

• Lemons — Fresh, mandatory. Bottled juice gives a flat bitterness and a cleaner aroma that ruins everything. You need 6 to 8 lemons for about 25 cl of juice — zest them all before juicing; you’ll use the zest both in the crust and in the cream.
• Butter — Unsalted, at room temperature. When you press it with a finger, it should sink in slowly without resistance. Butter that’s too cold makes a dough that crumbles in sheets; butter that’s too soft results in a crust that slumps during baking. One hour on the counter, no more.
• Eggs — Six, and at room temperature. A cold egg poured into a lukewarm cream creates cooked strands — exactly what we don’t want. If you forgot to take them out, place them in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.
• Flour — It plays two different roles here: structure in the crust, thickener in the cream. Don’t try to reduce it in the filling for the sake of lightness — without it, the cream won’t hold up when sliced and will remain runny.