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A whole decorated tart with a slice cut out.

Easy Lemon Tart | Tarte au Citron

Tarte au Citron - a classic French Lemon Tart with a tangy yet sweet creamy custard in a buttery crisp pastry. It's the best Lemon tart and deceptively easy to make. Simply whisk together your filling ingredients, pour the mixture into a sweet pastry case and bake. Et voila, a delicious easy lemon tart worthy of any bakery window.
5 from 46 votes
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Course: Dessert
Cuisine: French
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings: 10
Calories: 379kcal
Author: Sarah James

Equipment

  • 1 stand mixer - I used a KitchenAid or a large bowl and wooden spoon if mixing by hand
  • 1 large Pyrex mixing bowl
  • 1 whisk
  • 1 set of baking beans / pie weights or rice, dried peas, lentils, beans
  • 1 sheet baking parchment
  • 25 cm / 10 inch fluted, loose bottomed tart tin or 8 x 9cm / 3 ½ inch individual tart tins

Ingredients

Pâte Sucrée | Sweet Shortcrust pastry

  • 125 g softened salted butter cut into small cubes or use unsalted butter plus ½ tsp salt
  • 50 g icing sugar / confectioner's sugar 4 tablespoons
  • 1 large egg
  • 50 g ground almonds / almond meal
  • 200 g plain flour / all purpose flour

Lemon Tart Filling

  • 4 large eggs
  • 225 g caster sugar / superfine sugar
  • 225 ml double cream / heavy cream
  • Zest and juice of 2 large lemons or 3 small
  • 75 g melted salted butter or use unsalted butter plus ½ tsp salt
  • Optional: icing sugar / confectioner's sugar to dust

Instructions

Make your pastry:

  • In a stand mixer, use a paddle attachment at medium speed to cream the softened butter and icing sugar. Mix until smooth and creamy – this should take about 2 minutes.
  • Add egg and half of the flour. Mix on a slow speed until the flour is incorporated.
  • Remove the bowl from the machine before adding the ground almonds and the remainder of the flour.
  • Bring the pastry together and mix by hand but avoid overworking it.
  • Wrap your pastry with cling film / plastic wrap before refrigerating it for between 30 minutes and a couple of hours.
  • Grease 1 x 25cm (10 inch) loose bottomed flan tin or 8 x 9cm (3 ½ inch) individual tart tins.
  • Roll out your pastry between two sheets of baking parchment to prevent it from sticking to everything.
  • Make sure the pastry circle is appropriately sized for your flan tin. The circle needs to be a touch larger than the diameter of your flan tin plus twice the tin depth. Ideally, the pastry thickness should be about that of a £1 coin (3 mm / ⅛ inch.)
  • Carefully line your flan tin with pastry, gently pressing the pastry into the corners, sides and edges. Try not to stretch the pastry, patching any cracks that might appear.
  • Trim off excess pastry but leave the sides slightly higher than the flan tin in case of shrinkage.
  • Prick the bottom of the pastry case with a fork before popping 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 your pastry case:

  • Preheat oven to 200℃ / 180℃ fan / 400℉ / Gas Mark 6
  • Large tart – 15 minutes
  • Individual tartlets – 10 minutes
  • Remove from the oven and carefully remove baking parchment and beans.
  • Pop pastry case back in the oven for 10 minutes (large tart) or 6 minutes (individual tarts)
  • Leave to cool.
  • After removing your baked pastry case or cases, turn down your oven to: 180℃ / 160℃ fan / 350℉ / Gas Mark 4

Make your lemon tart 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.

Bake your Lemon Tart or Tartlets:

  • Carefully pour the lemon filling into the pastry filled tart tin. It's much easier to fill the tart case while it is in the oven, saves the inevitable spilling of custard from work top to oven.
  • Bake the large tart for 40 to 45 minutes or 15 to 20 minutes for the tartlets until set. The tart should have a bit of a wobble in the middle.
  • Leave to cool before removing from the tin.
  • Dust with a little icing sugar before serving and decorate with summer berries.

Notes

  • Wrapped in cling film or plastic wrap your dough will store for up to 5 days in the the fridge or 3 months in the freeze. If frozen, thaw it in the refrigerator overnight before using.
  • Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
Calories: 379kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 150mg | Sodium: 167mg | Potassium: 79mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 951IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 46mg | Iron: 2mg