If life gives you lemons… make lemonade. Or even better, make my easy Lemon Tart Recipe, guaranteed to make you smile. It’s got all the delicate lemon flavor and zero refined sugar. This sophisticated dessert recipe is a summer winner. It’s not often you feel chic while eating dessert! Stick with me, and let’s see how it’s done.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
You’ll keep coming back to this recipe again for several reasons:
- Beautiful flavor from fresh lemon zest, and beautiful canary-yellow color.
- Gorgeous custardy lemon curd filling — made lighter with yogurt!
- Creamy and velvety texture.
- Uses whole eggs — no leftover whites or yolks to find a use for!
- No refined sugar at all — and no butter either!
- Remarkably low-carb, with only 23 g net carbs per serving.
- Sophisticated enough for a fancy dinner party.
Inspiration behind The Lemon Tart Recipe
Back earlier, when I said: “when life gives you lemons…” it wasn’t just a phrase! A lovely new neighbor came round to introduce herself and brought me a gift of lemons from her lemon tree. (By the way, did you know that lemon trees fruit all year round? I didn’t!)
Well, I had to do something special with them, of course! I remembered a delicious lemon tart I’d had years ago and wondered if I might be able to make a low-sugar version. Several experiments later, and here is the result — the best lemon tart recipe I’ve tried so far. And, of course, I took one of those vibrant yellow lemon tarts right back round to my new neighbor as a housewarming gift. So here’s my new proverb: when life gives you lemons, use them to make new friends.
Ingredient list
To make the lemon tart recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:
For the Cookie Crumb Base
For the Lemon Filling
Ingredient Substitutes
If you’re missing any of the above ingredients, you can sub in one of the following:
Topping Variations
I used almonds and blueberries to top my lemon tart, but there are so many other things you could try instead!
- Fresh strawberries go beautifully with lemon tart! Slice some strawberries and lay them on top.
- The same goes for raspberries — in fact, these juicy berries feel even more sophisticated to me!
- Make some extra cookie crumb mixture and bake it along the tart case. Crumble it into pieces and scatter it over the top.
- Drizzle with extra honey or maple syrup.
- I don’t usually like chocolate with lemon, but a light dusting of cocoa powder works here. I think the almond butter draws the flavors together.
- Whipped cream is always welcome if you don’t mind the extra calories!
- Some goes with vanilla ice cream!
How to Make Lemon Tart Recipe With Easy Cooking Steps
Cooking Tools
To make this recipe, you’ll need:
Cooking Method
Preparation Steps
- Assemble all the tools and ingredients.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C.)
- Break the cookies into rough chunks.
- Zest the lemons, and juice 1 half of a lemon
- Separate 1 egg.
- Lightly grease or oil the tart tin.
Cooking Steps
For the cookie crumb base
- Put the cookies and the almonds into the bowl of a food processor.
- Process until reduced to fine crumbs, then transfer to a medium bowl.
- Mix with the almond butter and egg white.
- Use your fingers to press the mix into the prepared tart tin, being sure to come all the way up the sides.
- Bake the tart case for 10 minutes, then set aside to cool.
For the lemon curd filling
- Beat the honey, eggs, and egg yolk together until light, creamy and frothy.
- Put the milk into a small saucepan with the lemon zest. Heat over medium-low heat until just starting to boil.
- With the mixer running, pour the hot milk slowly into the egg mixture until combined.
- Stir in the vanilla essence, yogurt, and fresh lemon juice.
- Pass through a sieve to remove the lemon zest.
To finish the tart
- Pour the sieved filling into the baked tart case.
- Carefully put the tart tin back into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, until no longer liquid, but still with a slight wobble in the middle.
- Leave to cool to room temperature, then carefully unmold from the tart tin. Chill until ready to serve.
- Add whatever toppings you like (or just serve plain). Enjoy!
Add eggs to a mixing bowl.- Beat the eggs until smooth and frothy.
- Strain the beaten egg mixture into another bowl using a fine-mesh strainer.
- Press the egg mixture through the strainer with a spoon to remove any solids.
- Bake the graham cracker crust until golden brown.
- Pour the lemon tart filling into the baked crust, ready for baking.
Alternative Method
If you don’t have a food processor, you can still make this recipe! Use a pestle and mortar to smash the cookies and almonds into crumbs, or put them into a ziplock bag and bash them with a rolling pin.
Same goes for the food mixer. You can use a hand whisk or even a mixing spoon instead. Just make sure that the ingredients are really well combined.
If you like the idea of a mini lemon tart recipe, you can also use this recipe with a muffin tin or even a mini muffin pan to make impressive mini lemon tarts. Make sure to grease it well, then press the cookie crumb mix into the holes of the muffin tin to make mini pie crusts. Bake the cases, then fill with the lemon filling, and bake again as described above. The filling might need less cooking time if you’re making mini lemon tarts, or lemon tartlets.
Best Tips to Ace This Recipe
- Make sure you’ve got a good citrus zester for zesting the lemons. The best brand I know are the Microplane zesters, which make zesting citrus fruits an absolute breeze.
- Don’t skip sieving the filling at the end. The lemon zest adds a delicate lemon flavor to the fresh lemon curd, but if you leave whole bits in it, they can become unpleasantly bitter to bite on. Be sure to strain them out before baking.
- You’ll find that there is only a very scant amount of the cookie crumb base mixture. This is because you want to have a very thin, delicate crust to the tart. Press it in, in as thin a layer as you can manage. If you’re having trouble stretching it to go all the way, you can make a little extra but do try and keep the crust as thin as you can manage.
Time-Saving Tips
- You can save time by just making the tart shell, and filling it with a store-bought classic lemon curd, for an easy no-bake lemon tart. Be aware that my lemon curd filling is much lighter than a normal store-bought one, which usually contains a lot of butter and sugar.
- Make the tart shell in advance earlier in the day and leave it to cool. It will be fine in the kitchen at room temperature for several hours.
How To Serve Lemon Tart?
Lovely lemon tart makes a show in my house whenever I want something special. With its delicate flavor and crisp crust, it never fails to impress, whether you’re having an afternoon tea or dinner party. I also love how versatile it is, by going so well with so many different toppings: cream, fresh berries, vanilla ice cream, etc. See above for more topping ideas — but whatever you use, be sure not to hide the beautiful yellow color completely!
How To Store Lemon Tart?
Store lemon tart separately from the topping, in an airtight container in the fridge. It’s best to add any toppings directly before serving. If you’re using fresh berries, ideally slice them only right before serving.
This recipe does not freeze well, due to the egg based custard filling. But you can make the cookie crumb tart shell in advance and just freeze that. Press the unbaked tart crust into the tart tin, and cover well with plastic wrap before freezing.
Conclusion
Life gave me lemons, and I made a new favorite Lemon Tart Recipe — and a new friend along the way! Maybe you’ll find new friends with this recipe, too, or find new flavor friends with exciting new toppings for your lemon tart. Give it a try, and let me know in the comments how you get on.
More Healthy Dessert Recipes
Looking for more refined-sugar-free sweet treats? Try out one of these:
There are many lemon desserts you can make, including tarte au citron, lemon tart, or lemon pudding pound cake.
A French lemon tart is known in French as tarte au citron. It is just the French name for lemon tart.
A classic lemon tart is made by filling a tart shell with a delicious lemon filling, usually some kind of lemon curd or lemon custard. Depending on the recipe, lemon tarts can be baked or no-bake.
The lemon tart filling is usually made with eggs, lemon, and sugar as the foundation ingredients. Depending on the exact recipe, additional ingredients include butter, cream, yogurt, or alternative sweeteners.
You can serve lemon tart with many different toppings. Fresh fruit is always good, but you can also serve lemon tart with nuts, honey, whipped cream, or even meringues for a lemon meringue pie.
Lemon tart shells can be made from cookie crumbs crushed to a fine powder and mixed with melted butter.
The Best Lemon Tart Recipe
Ingredients
For the Cookie Crumb Base
- 4 ounces graham crackers or similar
- 1 ounce almonds
- 1 egg white
- 2 tablespoons almond butter
For the Lemon Filling
- ¾ cup Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup of milk
- 2 lemons zested, plus juice of 1 half
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Preparation Steps
- Assemble all the tools and ingredients.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C.)
- Break the cookies into rough chunks.
- Zest the lemons, and juice 1 half of a lemon
- Separate 1 egg.
- Lightly grease or oil the tart tin.
Cooking Steps
For the cookie crumb base
- Put the cookies and the almonds into the bowl of a food processor.
- Process until reduced to fine crumbs, then transfer to a medium bowl.
- Mix with the almond butter and egg white.
- Use your fingers to press the mix into the prepared tart tin, being sure to come all the way up the sides.
- Bake the tart case for 10 minutes, then set aside to cool.
For the lemon curd filling
- Beat the honey, eggs, and egg yolk together until light, creamy and frothy.
- Put the milk into a small saucepan with the lemon zest. Heat over medium-low heat until just starting to boil.
- With the mixer running, pour the hot milk slowly into the egg mixture until combined.
- Stir in the vanilla essence, yogurt, and fresh lemon juice.
- Pass through a sieve to remove the lemon zest.
To finish the tart
- Pour the sieved filling into the baked tart case.
- Carefully put the tart tin back into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, until no longer liquid, but still with a slight wobble in the middle.
- Leave to cool to room temperature, then carefully unmold from the tart tin. Chill until ready to serve.
- Add whatever toppings you like (or just serve plain). Enjoy!
