How do you make a lemon tart?
Tart crust - First, prepare and bake the tart crust. You could use a store-bought prebaked tart crust, but homemade is always better. In our tart crust recipe, you will find everything you need for a tasty, buttery, homemade tart crust (+video). You can bake the tart crust two days ahead of time. Keep in an airtight container at room temperature.
Lemon curd - Creamy, rich lemon curd, made for true citrus lovers. Four things go into a good lemon curd: lemons (zest + juice), sugar, eggs and butter, quite a lot of butter, but that makes it so luscious, rich, creamy and dreamy. Check last year's tasty recipe with lemon curd too: Pavlova with Lemon Curd.
Meringue - Light and airy. First, you make the sugar syrup (boil water and sugar), then you pour the hot syrup over the whisked egg whites to create a nice, fluffy, white Italian meringue. Gently brown using a blowtorch.
How do you make lemon curd?
To make the lemon curd, use the bain-marie technique. Place a pot with water over medium-high heat. Bring the water to the boil, then place a large, heatproof bowl with the lemon curd ingredients (lemon, sugar, eggs) on top of the pot, making sure, the bowl doesn't touch the simmering water. Cook the mixture to 83°C / 181°F, then strain through a sieve. Incorporate cold cubes of butter and use in a lemon tart.
How long does lemon tart keep?
Keep the lemon tart chilled, in a refrigerator for up to 5 days or freeze in an airtight container for up to a month.
Tips and Tricks
Always serve this lemon tart at room temperature. If you have it stored in the fridge, remove it from the fridge at least 1 hour before serving. That way, the lemon tart will be creamier and tastier.
Other fruit tart recipes you might like
METHOD
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Bake the tart crust
Bake the tart crust in a tart pan (35x11 cm or 14 x 4.5 inch). If you are using our recipe for the tart crust, simply click on the ingredient "tart dough" on the left and follow the instructions.
TipYou can also use a round tart pan (20cm) -
Lemon curd
Cut butter on small cubes. Place a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (bain-marie). Add the sugar, lemon zest, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and eggs. Whisk to combine. Cook over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, whisking constantly. When the mixture reaches 83°C / 181°F, remove from the heat and pour the warm lemon curd through a fine sieve into a bowl. Gradually add the cold butter, while mixing with an electric mixer or immersion blender. The curd has to be silky and smooth. Pour into the prebaked (and cooled) tart shell. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes.
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Meringue
To make the meringue, add sugar and water to a saucepan. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, then cook until the syrup reaches 121°C / 250°F. In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer to get soft peaks. With the mixer running on high speed, pour the hot sugar syrup in a thin stream over the soft peak egg whites. Beat until the egg whites are stiff and shiny, for about 2 - 3 minutes. Spoon the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a 1 cm (1/2-inch) pastry tip.
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Serve
Pipe meringue peaks over the lemon curd filling. Using a blowtorch, lightly brown the meringue. Serve the tart at room temperature and enjoy.
