Live your dream of baking a fancy dessert at home for your weekend dinner party with this plan-ahead-and-assemble-later Lemon Tart recipe. I prefer the English way of making this lemon tart with shortbread crust by blind baking the pastry first before pouring in the lemon-flavored custard filling.

Lemon tart, also known as tarte au citron in French, has a rich history that spans several centuries and regions. Lemon tart is a beloved dessert worldwide, appreciated for its balance of tart and sweet flavors. To make this dessert at home, I have divided the entire recipe of lemon tart from scratch into three main steps, baking the shortcrust pastry tart base, rich lemon curd, and custard filling. Keep reading for detailed recipe instructions for each of the steps.

Table of Contents

Ingredients for homemade Lemon Tart

Shortcrust pastry tart shell (gives 2 shells of 8 inches each)

1.5 cup Butter
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1 Egg Optional
1.5 cups All Purpose Flour
1/8 tsp Salt
Egg white of 1 egg

Lemon curd

1 Egg
2 Tbsp. of Butter
2 Tbsp. of Sugar
I Lemon’s Juice and zest

Custard filling & topping

1 cup Vanilla custard
1/2 cup Whipping Cream – chilled
Icing Sugar
Vanilla extract
Lime zest

Recipe instructions to make this simple lemon tart

#1 – Prepare the crust

Beat the butter till creamy. Then add the sugar and egg till it is smooth in texture
Add the flour and salt and mix till combined into a rough dough ball
Gather it nicely and wrap it in cling wrap. Keep it in the fridge for 20-25 minutes to rest
Take it out and roll it out on a floured surface. Line your tart pan and prick the base and the inside edges using a fork. Freeze it once again for 15 minutes.
Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown at 180°C in a preheated oven. Let it cool completely.
Take it out and brush the tart base with the egg white to make it waterproof. Pop it back in the oven and broil it for a minute. You can also use any jam or honey instead of the egg.
Allow it to cool on a wire rack and then use it for your pie or tart recipe.

#2 – Making the lemon curd

Set up a double boiler. Place a glass bowl over a pot of boiling water
Put the butter and sugar in the bowl. Whisk it, till it becomes smooth and the sugar has been completely dissolved
Now add the lemon juice and the zest, and give it a nice stir
Beat the egg separately in a bowl and gently add it to the sugar-butter mixture while constantly whisking it. Keep doing so for the next 15-20 minutes or till you get a gooey consistency
Take it off the steam , and let it cool down to the normal room temperature before using it

#3 – Assembling the lemon custard pie

Make plain vanilla custard using some full-cream milk and vanilla custard powder. We need 1 cup of custard, so you might need 1 liter of milk to get that. Let it chill and thicken so that we get a hard pudding.
Once the custard has cooled down completely, even better if chilled, add the lemon curd and whisk it thoroughly.
Take the pre-baked tart shell and fill it with the lemon curd-custard filling up to 2/3rd of it. Allow it to set in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
Meanwhile, whisk the chilled whipping cream with granulated sugar, a few drops of vanilla extract, and zest of lime.
Before serving, decorate the tart with some of the whipped cream. You may also fill a piping bag fitted with a star tip and make florets on the top of the tart.

Serving suggestions

I would advise you to assemble the lemon tart on the same day when you plan to serve it to your friends or family. Start a few hours easily and allow it to set in the fridge so that when you take it out, you can carve out clean and nice pie slices! Also, there would be no ‘weeping’ where the base of the tart gets soggy after absorbing moisture off the filling.

Recipe variations

For a more authentic French experience, you can bake a pâte sucrée (sweet pastry dough) for the crust
In case you aren’t in the mood to bake a separate tart base, you can combine graham cracker and butter and press it into a tart pan for a crumbly base
You can also use a store-bought crust if you’re short on time
Instead of custard filling you can also make a lemon cream filling by combining lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, and heavy cream

More lemon desserts

Lemon Blueberry Cake recipe — Lemon Mug Cake

Ready to cook? Pin this recipe, share it with friends, and explore more Bengali classics on our blog. Happy cooking!

Follow me or Subscribe to my Channel

Homemade Lemon Tart with Shortbread Crust

Now make store-bought like Lemon Tart easily at home. This easy Lemon Tart recipe is the one you need. you will also find the Shortcrust Pastry Tart Shell recipe inside.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 20

Total Time 50

Course Dessert

Cuisine European

Servings 4 People

Ingredients

1 cup Plain Vanilla Custard
1/4 cup Lemon Curd
1 Tart Shell Pre-Baked
1/2 cup Whipping Cream Chilled

Instructions

Make plain Vanilla Custard using some Full-Cream Milk and Vanilla Custard Powder. We need 1 cup of Custard so you might need 1 liter of Milk to get that.
Let it chill and thicken so that we get a hard set custard.
Once the custard has cooled down completely, even better if chilled add the Lemon Curd and whisk it thoroughly.
Take the pre-baked Tart shell and fill it with the Lemon Curd-Custard filling upto 2/3 of it.
Allow it to set in refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
Meanwhile whisk the chilled Whipping Cream with granulated sugar and a few drops of Vanilla Extract and zest of Lime.
Before serving decorate the tart with some of the whipped cream. You may also fill a piping bag fitted with star tip and make florets of the top of the tart.