This Lemon Tart is filled with a silky smooth sweet, tangy filling and encased in a buttery, sweet pastry — our Lemon Tart is genuinely irresistible! Enjoy it with whipped cream or your favorite ice cream for an extra special treat.
Lemon Tart
Although this recipe requires time and effort, it all becomes worth it when you finally sink your teeth into this wonderful tart. This recipe strikes a perfect balance between the tartness and sweetness in the filling while ensuring not to overpower the sweet pastry completely.
The sweet pastry (Pâte sucrée) used in this recipe can be used in a variety of other tarts and desserts, so once you master it, there are many different recipes you can make with it.
However, we understand that when you’re busy and tired, the last thing some people want to do is make pastry! So feel free to buy a pre-made sweet pastry case; we won’t tell anyone! 😉
Lemon Tart
Silky smooth sweet, lemon filling and encased in a mouth-watering, sweet pastry
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Servings: 8 serves
Ingredients
Sugar Pastry
- 8 oz all-purpose flour
- 4 oz unsalted butter cut into small cubes, room temperature
- 3 oz superfine sugar
- Pinch salt
- 1 large fresh egg room temperature
Lemon Tart Filling.
- zest of 1 Lemon
- 4 floz lemon juice
- 7 oz superfine sugar
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 3 large egg yolks room temperature
- 7 oz unsalted butter cut into small cubes, room temperature
Instructions
Sugar Pastry Dough (Pâte sucrée):
- Mix dry ingredients: Stir together flour, sugar, and a pinch of salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Add in the butter: Rub the butter into the flour mixture with your fingertips until it becomes crumbly.
- Add The Egg: Mix the egg through with a spatula; the texture of the mixture should be a bit sticky with some dry crumbs and about to come together at this stage. Transfer the mixture onto a lightly floured surface.
- Bring the dough together: Squeeze and knead the dough slightly until it comes together; do not over-knead. Form the dough into a flat round disk. Wrap in plastic cling wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Lemon Tart Filling:
- Lemon filling ingredients: Add the lemon tart filling ingredients into a saucepan. Place the saucepan over low heat and begin whisking to combine the ingredients. You will need to keep whisking vigorously, non-stop, for at least 5 minutes until the butter has melted and everything is all combined smoothly and not curdled or split.
- Thickening the filling: Continue whisking at a slightly reduced speed for the next 5-10 minutes; you will start to see the filling thicken.Keep stirring until the filling holds its shape in the saucepan and holds itself onto the whisk without dripping. Once it's ready, put the filling aside to cool down completely.
Preparing The Pastry Case:
- Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 392°F (200°C). Prepare a 9” (25CM) pie/quiche tin with a removable base.
- Roll the dough: Take the dough out of the fridge and place it onto a lightly floured surface. Start rolling out the dough to a size slightly larger than the pie tin and around 1/8" thick (3.2mm).
- Lining the tin: Rub the rolling pin with a small amount of flour to protect the dough from sticking. Carefully lift one end of the dough off the surface and roll it onto the rolling pin. Carefully unroll the dough onto the top of the pie tin. Let the dough fall into the pie tin naturally.
- Make it neat: Use the back of your finger to gently press the dough into all corners of the pie tin; let the dough move naturally and avoid pulling or stretching it. Then use the rolling pin to roll on top of the pie tin to trim off the excess hanging over the edge.
- Prick the dough: Prick the dough with a fork all over the base of the tin (not completely through).
- Blind baking: Line the pastry case with parchment paper and fill the inside with pie weights. Bake for around 15 minutes, don't allow the crust to become too brown.
- Remove pie weights: Take the pastry case out of the oven, remove the pie weights, and continue to bake for another 5 minutes or until lightly golden. (keep the oven on!)
- Cool: Leave the pastry to cool completely in the pie tin.
Final Assembly
- Sieve the filling: Add the filling into the pastry case through a sieve. Smooth and level the filling using a small spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Final Bake: Return the tart to the oven and bake for another 5 minutes. Keep an eye on it, so it doesn't burn.
- Cool: Take the tart out of the oven and allow it to cool completely. Once cooled, you can decorate if you choose to do so.
- Decorate: We dusted our tart with icing sugar and piped whipped cream as a border around the pastry. You could decorate with lemon slices, fresh berries, mint leaves, or a big dollop of whipped cream. It's up to you!
- Refrigerate: Once cooled and decorated, keep the tart refrigerated until serving.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serve | Calories: 576kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 36g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 239mg | Sodium: 40mg | Potassium: 93mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 36g | Vitamin A: 1191IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 36mg | Iron: 2mg
What you will need to make a Lemon Tart
- All-purpose flour: Or plain flour. Self-raising flour isn’t a substitute for this recipe.
- Unsalted butter: The butter for the pastry and filling should be cut into small cubes at room temperature.
- Superfine sugar: The pastry and the filling calls for superfine or granulated sugar.
- Salt: Just a pinch of regular table salt.
- Large eggs (whole): 4 whole large eggs are used in total. The eggs should be at room temperature before use.
- Large egg yolks: As with the whole eggs, the yolks should also be at room temperature.
- Lemon zest: Careful not to go too deep when zesting the lemon; the white part (pith) tastes bitter.
- Lemon juice: Use freshly squeezed lemon juice for this recipe.
How to make a Lemon Tart
- Dry sugar pastry ingredients: Add flour, sugar, and salt to a mixing bowl and stir together.
- Unsalted butter: Place the unsalted butter into the dry ingredients.
- Mix in butter: Using fingertips, rub the flour and butter together until it becomes crumbly.
- Egg: Drop the egg into the mixing bowl once the butter and flour become crumbly.
- Mix egg: Switch to a spatula and mix the egg through.
- Place on a clean surface: Once it becomes sticky, place the crumbs onto a clean surface.
- Bring together: Using your hands, gently bring the dough together.
- Form a disc: Avoid overworking the dough and make it into a small disc shape. Cover with cling wrap and then cool for 30 mins.
Making the lemon filling
- Lemon filling ingredients: In a saucepan, over low heat, add lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, eggs, egg yolks, and butter.
- Melt butter: Begin whisking the ingredients together non-stop for at least 5 minutes.
- Whisk: Once the butter melts, continue to whisk, and it will start to thicken.
- Check thickness: Keep checking the consistency of the lemon filling while whisking. The final consistency should allow it to stick to the whisk without dripping.
Preparing the sugar pastry crust
- Prepare a surface: Lightly dust a clean, dry surface with flour.
- Roll out: Roll the dough out, so it’s slightly larger than the tin.
- Place in tin: Pick up the dough by rolling it onto a dusted rolling pin. Then carefully roll it off onto the tin. Gently press the dough into the corners and along the sides.
- Make it neat: Trim the excess dough using the rolling pin by rolling it across the top.
- Prick: With a fork, prick over the base of the pastry crust without piercing it.
- Parchment paper: Cut parchment paper just larger than the tin, place it over the pastry, and add some of the pie weights.
- Pie weights: Trim the parchment paper, so it’s slightly higher than the sides, and fill it with more pie weights until level with the rim. Then place in the oven for 15 minutes.
- Remove pie weights: After baking for 15 minutes, remove the pie weights and bake for a further 5 minutes. Now allow it to cool.
Assembling the Lemon Tart
- Sieve filling: Now that the pastry has cooled fill the pastry crust with the lemon filling by pushing it through a sieve first.
- Smooth filling: Make the filling as smooth and flat as possible with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Then place in the oven for around 5 minutes.
- Cool: Remove the tart from the oven and allow it to cool before decorating.
- Decorate (optional): We used powdered sugar and whipped cream around the border for our lemon tart, but the choice is up to you!
Want more fabulous recipes?
Short on time but are in need of something sweet? check out the rest of our excellent Dessert recipes!
