Having never tried another recipe for a lemon tart, I can’t say with 100% confidence that this is true. But the lemon curd in this recipe is quite sharp without being overpowering. Paired with the buttery, and crispy shortbread crust its a winning combination. This recipe comes from Claire Saffitz’s “Dessert Person” cookbook, which my wife gave me for Christmas last year. Claire does have a YouTube video for this exact recipe. So if you’re a visual learner like me and something doesn’t make sense, check out the video. She does a great job explaining and demonstrating baking techniques. She also gives the recipe in the video description so there really isn’t a reason you need to be here. Hopefully you’ve already skipped to the recipe below and this can be yet another secret in plain sight on this blog. Anyway, on to the recipe.
Recipe Notes
This recipe can be prepared in stages and made over several days. Not everyone has an entire day to devote to baking a single dish so if that sounds like you, this recipe is right up your alley. Prepare the lemon curd first, as this can be stored in the fridge for up to a week. Zest the lemons and combine the zest with the sugar so that the zest is evenly distributed in the sugar. This is to ensure that pockets of lemon zest don’t form in the curd and its as smooth as possible. The lemon zest can be strained out of the curd before chilling for an even smoother curd. I didn’t notice the zest so I don’t think its necessary but its entirely up to you.
Add the egg yolks and egg and whisk until smooth, around 2 minutes. Then add the lemon juice, whisking constantly as you pour the lemon juice in. Whisk in the salt making sure that the mixture is uniform and smooth. Put the mixture on the stove over medium-low heat and whisk constantly until the mixture reaches 170 degrees Fahrenheit. The mixture should be relatively thick and coat the back of a spoon if you don’t have an instant-read thermometer.
More Notes about the Lemon Curd
Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter one piece at a time. Let each piece fully incorporate before adding the next. Once all of the butter has been added and the mixture is smooth, whisk in the vanilla. Finally, transfer the curd into a storage container or a large plastic or glass bowl and press a piece of cling film over the top of the mixture. This is to prevent a film from forming on the curd as it chills. Place in the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours. See picture below for what I mean by covering with cling film.
Notes about the Dough
This dough is pretty forgiving for shaping into your tart pan. It doesn’t require rolling out and laying into the pan. Instead, you get to roll out a series of long strands and press it into the grooves of your tart pan which makes things a bit more fun in my opinion.
Using a food processor, combine the flour, powdered sugar, and salt and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and using long pulses, combine until the butter is in small pieces around the size of a pea. In a separate bowl, add the egg yolk, vanilla, and ice water and mix until combined. Pour the mixture over the flour and butter mixture and pulse until a ball of dough forms and there is no bits of flour remaining. Its important to use a spatula to get all of the egg mixture out and into the flour mixture. This ensures the dough will hold together. Pull the dough out of the food processor, pat into a disc, wrap in cling film, and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. The dough can be made up to 3 days ahead of time.
Take the dough out of the fridge and cut it in half. Using one half of the dough, cut it into six roughly equal pieces and roll the pieces out into long strands. Press the strands into the sides of your tart pan making sure to keep the edge uniform in width. You can use a measuring cup to press the dough into the sides and keep the edges uniform. Claire demonstrates this beautifully in her video. If the dough comes over the top of the tart pan, that’s fine, it’ll be trimmed down later. Using the other half of the dough press that into the bottom of the tart pan so that the dough is uniformly thick.
Tart Dough Baking Tips
Chill the dough in the tart pan for 20 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit while the dough is chilling. Take the dough out of the fridge and using a small knife, trim the excess dough off of the top of the tart pan. Don’t throw out the excess dough, it will be used later to fill in any cracks. Using a fork, press and make holes all over the tart dough on the bottom and sides. Next, take a piece of aluminum foil and press it into the tart pan on top of the dough, taking care to press the foil into the sides of the tart pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Take the foil off of the dough and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until the entire crust is golden brown.
The Actual Tart
With the crust baked and the curd chilled, assembly can begin. Combine the lemon curd with the Greek yogurt and leave out to come to room temperature. While the curd is warming up, spread a thin layer of blackberry jam on the bottom of the crust and bake for 5 minutes. This is to create a barrier between the crust and the curd and ensure the crust stays crisp, no soggy bottoms.
Transfer the lemon curd into the hot crust and fill to the top. There may be leftover curd depending on the size of the tart pan you used. Smooth the top of the curd using an offset spatula and carefully place in the oven on the center rack and bake for around 28 minutes. The filling will be set around the edges and the center will have a bit of a wobble to it. If the curd ripples, it needs more time in the oven. Let the tart cool completely on a wire rack before removing the ring and then place in the fridge to chill for at least one hour. After that, dig in and enjoy! Also, your curd may blow up like one of mine did, its still going to be safe to eat, its just ugly to look at.
Lemon Tart
Equipment
- 1 Food Processor for making the tart dough
- 1 Stand Mixer
- 1 9-inch removable bottom tart pan springform pan works too
- 1 Thermapen optional, but nice to have
Ingredients
Lemon Curd
- 150 grams sugar just regular sugar
- zest of 2 lemons
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 large egg
- 170 grams lemon juice 5-6 large lemons worth
- 4 grams Kosher salt
- 113 grams chilled unsalted butter 1 stick, cut into ½" pieces
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Tart Dough
- 160 grams all-purpose flour plus more for hands
- 30 grams powdered sugar
- 4 grams Kosher salt
- 113 grams chilled unsalted butter 1 stick, cut into ½" pieces
- 1 large egg yolk
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
The Tart Itself
- Lemon Curd
- 120 grams whole-milk Greek yogurt, plain
- Tart Dough par-baked in 9-inch tart pan
- 100 grams blackberry jam
Instructions
Lemon Curd Instructions
- Add the sugar and lemon zest to a sauce pan and mix the two together using your fingers or a whisk if you don't like getting your hands dirty. Add the egg yolks and egg and whisk like crazy, making sure there aren't any pockets of sugar in the corners of the sauce pan. After around 2 minutes, the mixture should be very pale, light in texture, and thick.
- While continuing to whisk, slowly add the lemon juice in, whisking constantly until the mixture is smooth. Whisk in salt and place sauce pan over low-medium heat and continue to whisk constantly until the curd is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, around 7-10 minutes. The mixture will be around 170 degrees F, which is where the thermapen comes in handy, but its not necessary.
- Remove the curd from the heat and whisk in the butter one piece at a time, making sure to let each piece fully incorporate into the mixture until adding the next. Once all the butter is incorporated and the mixture is smooth, whisk in the vanilla.
- Transfer the curd to a medium size glass or plastic bowl and press a piece of cling film onto the curd to prevent a skin from forming. Place in the fridge to cool, at least 3 hours.
Tart Dough Instructions
- Add the flour, powdered sugar, and salt to the food processor and pulse a few times to combine.
- Add the butter and process in long pulses until the butter is in small pieces, around the size of a lemon seed.
- In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk, vanilla and 4 teaspoons of cold water with a fork until smooth. Drizzle the egg mixture over the flour mixture making sure to get all of the egg mixture out. Use a spatula to get all of the egg mixture out.
- Process the dough with long pulses until a ball of dough forms around the blades and no floury spots remain. Scrape the dough out of the food processor and onto a sheet of cling film.
- Pat the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes and up to 3 days.
- Unwrap the dough and divide it in half using a bench scraper or knife. Cut one half into six strips and roll the strips out using your hands. Press the strips of dough into the side of your tart pan, pressing into place so the inside circumference of your tart pan is lined with dough. The dough should extend a little bit above the top of the pan.
- Take the other half off the dough and press it into the bottom of the pan, making sure that the layer of dough is even. Where the bottom meets the sides, press the dough together to seal.
- Freeze the lined pan until the dough is completely firm, 15-20 min. Take the pan out of the freezer and using a paring knife, trim the excess dough off of the top of the tart pan so the dough doesn't extend above the tart pan, Hold onto the excess dough that was removed, it'll come in handy later to patch any cracks you might get during baking.
- Using a fork, prick all over the bottom of the tart pan. Press a layer of tin foil directly onto the surface of the dough and into the sides. This serves the same function as pie weights for blind baking.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the edge of the crust is golden brown. Remove the tin foil and bake for another 15 minutes so that the crust is parbaked. Patch any cracks in the crust with the reserved raw dough from earlier.
Lemon Tart Assembly
- Mix the lemon curd with the Greek yogurt until smooth. Cover and allow the mixture to come to room temperature.
- Place the oven rack in the center and preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place a thin layer of jam evenly across the parbaked crust and bake for 5 minutes, or until set. This is to create a seal between the crust and the curd so that the crust stays crisp.
- Place the filling into the crust and fill to the top. You may have a bit of curd left over. Bake for 30 minutes or until the filling is set and has a bit of a wobble to it but not a ripple. Watch an episode of the great British bakeoff if this doesn't make sense.
- Let the tart cool on a wire rack before removing the ring and placing on a serving tray. Place in the fridge to chill, at least one hour, before serving.
