Lemon Tart or Tarte au Citron looks and tastes great and yet is really easy to make. Simply whisk together your filling ingredients, pour the mixture into a baked pastry case (preferably home-made) et voila, a delicious lemon tart !
Tarte au Citron is always on the summer menu here at the Kitchen Shed as summer is when family and friends come to stay and I like to bake something special for them. As my sister’s most favourite dessert, if Tarte au Citron is on the menu anywhere you can guarantee she’ll choose it. The fresh lemon filling and buttery crisp pastry of Tarte au Citron combine to provide a perfect end to a meal – I usually serve the tart on its own but I have been known to add a few summer berries.
This recipe includes instructions and oven timings for both a large tart or individual lemon tarts.
Easy Lemon Tart | Tarte au Citron
Makes:
8 portions or approximately 8 individual tarts
Ingredients
Pastry:
- 200 g plain flour
- A pinch of salt
- 100 g chilled butter, cut into small cubes
- 4 tablespoons icing sugar
- 1 egg yolk (freeze the white for later)
- Approximately 2 tablespoons water
Lemon Filling:
- 3 eggs
- 150 g caster sugar
- 150 ml double cream
- Zest and juice of 2 lemons
- 50 g melted butter
- Optional: icing sugar to dust
Grease:
- 1 x 23 cm ( 9 inch ) loose bottomed flan tin
or - 8 x 9 cm ( 3 ½ inch ) individual tart tins
Preheat oven:
- 200℃ / 400℉ / Gas Mark 6
Pastry:
- Sift flour and salt into the mixing bowl of the stand mixer.
- Add cubes of butter and mix on slow with a paddle attachment until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Add the icing sugar and briefly mix.
- Briefly whisk egg yolk and water in a small bowl before adding to the pastry mix.
- Mix on slow until the pastry forms (this shouldn’t take long at all, less than a minute. You don’t want to overwork the pastry)
- Wrap the pastry in cling film and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes until firm but not hard.
- Roll out your pastry to about the thickness of a £1 coin ( ⅛ inch ) making sure the pastry circle is large enough for the diameter of your flan tin plus twice its depth.
- Carefully line your tin with your pastry.
- Prick the bottom of the case with a fork and pop in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.
- Line your pastry case or cases with baking parchment and fill with ceramic beans, rice or dried beans.
- Bake in the oven:
- Large tart – 15 minutes
- Individual tarts – 10 minutes
- Remove from the oven and carefully set aside the paper and beans.
- Pop the back in the oven for 5 minutes to crisp up the bottom.
- Leave to cool.
- After removing your baked pastry case or cases, turn down your oven to:
180℃ / 350℉ / Gas Mark 4
Lemon Filling:
- Whisk the eggs, sugar and double cream together until blended.
- Add lemon juice and zest and whisk again.
- Lastly, whisk in the melted butter.
- Carefully pour the lemon filling into the cooled pastry case or cases.
- Carefully transfer to the oven and bake:
- Large Tart – 35 to 40 minutes
- Individual Tarts – 15 to 20 minutes
- Leave to cool before removing from the tin or tins.
- Dust with a little icing sugar before serving.
I’m entering Easy Lemon Tart | Tarte au Citron into:
- Perfecting Patisserie ( co-hosted by Lucy at Baking Queen 74 & Kevin from The Crafty Larder ) this month over at Baking Queen 74
- The Pastry Challenge created by Jen at Jen’s Food & Lisa at United Cakedom, hosted this month by Jen over at Jen’s Food.
- Treat Petite created by Stuart at CakeyBoi & Kat at The Baking Explorer, the host for June is Kat over at The Baking Explorer.
And linking to:
So tarts in the oven…..as so excited to taste them. A fantastic recipe as always from the shed. Just one question so I don’t spoil it. How do I know when to take it from oven is there a sign as at the moment the centre seems still fluid?
Thanks Debbie, I bet I’m too late with an answer as I wasn’t online last night. The best time to take the lemon tart out of the oven is when the centre still has a bit of a wobble as it will set on cooling. Don’t worry though, I left a lemon tart in for too long the other week and it was still delicious. let me know how you got on x
Already disappeared! As ever kitchen shed recipes don’t last long here, sons flatmates have now put in a regular order. Thank you once again Sarah
You’re more than welcome Debbie, sounds like your lemon tart turned out well if you’ve got orders for more already! It makes blogging worthwhile to receive such positive feedback, thank you, it really is much appreciated. x
Tarte au citron is my fave of all desserts and I never knew it was so simple (at least you make it sound so!) will definetely be giving this a go, thanks for sharing 🙂
You’re welcome Sarah, look forward to hearing how you get on, I’m sure you’ll be making your own Tarte au Citron on a regular basis once you discover how easy it is to make 🙂
Simple and delicious! Thanks for entering into Treat Petite.
Thanks Kat & you’re most welcome 🙂
That looks amazing, I love lemon tart. I haven’t mastered making pastry yet though. I don’t put it into the fridge like you do so many that’s where I’m going wrong. I will give this recipe a try! Thanks so much for linking up with #foodpornthursdays x
Thanks Becky, putting the pastry in the fridge definitely helps the end result & is worth doing. A pleasure to link up with #FoodPornThursdays
I saw the word lemon and had to click! Yum! This looks great. If I’m feeling ambitious this weekend I might have to try this out!
Thanks Michelle. Let me know how you get on.
I absolutely love lemon tart but for some reason I’ve never made one myself. This recipe looks great. Will have to try it #foodpornthursdays K x
Thanks for popping by K x
Mmm, yummy Sarah, I adore lemon based dishes especially Tarte au Citron; so much so we had it to round off our ‘wedding breakfast’ a few years back.
Angela x
Thanks Angela, Tarte au Citron would be a lovely way to round off a wedding breakfast x
I also love a Tarte au Citron, and often have it when I’m out – but rarely make it at home for some reason! Those individual ones look very cute! Lovely…
Thanks, my Mum gave me the small tins the other year as she never got round to using them, I’ve them a lot because they’re so cute.
I would love to make something like this for my husband…. he has a thing for lemon desserts.
Lovely, let me know if you make your husband a lemon tart. Thanks for popping by Joann.
I love tarte au citron and this looks delicious! x #tastytuesdays
I love lemon tart and this one looks gorgeous
Thanks Alison 🙂
Thanks Alison
I’ve been craving lemon desserts lately with this pregnancy. This is so up my alley!!!
#TastyTuesdays
.:Marta:.
Oh I remember those days! Thanks for popping over from #TastyTuesdays Marta 🙂
I’m a bit like your sister – absolutely love lemon tart and it’s nearly always my first choice too, especially in summer. My kids like it too so definitely one to try soon. #tastytuesdays
Thanks Mandy, I hope you enjoy Easy Lemon Tart as much as we do 🙂
This is a thing I love but have never made. Thanks for sharing! #cookblogshare
You’re welcome Fionnuala. It’s really worth making your own, homemade lemon tart tastes so much better than shop bought & it’s so easy too.
I love Tarte au Citron, and it’s something I haven’t had since we moved to the US… I’m pinning this and making it!! #tastytuesdays
That’s lovely Sara, let me know how you get on 🙂
Tarte au citron is one of my summer favourites and my Mum makes an excellent one, have never baked it myself but now you’ve shared an easy recipe I must give it a go. Individual tarts look great for taking on picnics. Thanks for linking with The Pastry Challenge 🙂
You’re welcome Jen, look forward to hearing how you get on 🙂
These lemon tarts look beautiful and delicious! 🙂 It’s great that you have information for the large and smaller individual sizes too! Thank you! 🙂
Thanks Lilli & you’re most welcome. Glad the info for the small tarts is useful 🙂
This lemon tart looks so refreshing and would no doubt bear up under Mary Berry’s inspection! I love the idea of the individual tarts,must try these next time we have friends over.
Thanks for linking up with #PerfectingPatisserie!
You’re welcome Lucy. Well at least I can say, ‘there’s not a soggy bottom in sight!’ Lol