Baked Fresh Lemon Tart Recipe

This Lemon Tart has a bright and creamy lemon filling that packs a flavor punch! Baked inside a crisp and buttery tart crust, it’s a light and simple dessert that is perfect for any occasion! The secret to getting that boost of lemon flavor is using fresh lemons, and a lot of them! And although this isn’t a quick tart recipe, and it uses loads of lemons, the time and effort you put into it is totally worth the payoff because it’s the most flavorful tart you’ll ever make and have!

This recipe was originally posted on August 7, 2021. The recipe was re-worked and updated on June 27, 2024.

Hey team! I’m excited to share my Lemon Tart recipe with you all. I put it through 8 rounds of exhaustive testing to make sure it was absolutely FOOL-PROOF! The lemon filling is creamy and light and has a perfect balance of sweet and sour without being overpowering. Similar to my Lemon Bars!.

In todays’ post I’m going to teach you how to make the filling for this tart. To learn all my tips and tricks on how to make the tart shell for the tart, check out my Sweet Tart Crust recipe which is a super easy dough to work with and bakes crisp and buttery!

I think you guys will love this dessert! It’s such a happy and bright celebration of lemon. It’s not overly fancy making it a great casual baking project, but good enough for a dinner party that will impress your guests. Dress it up with some whipped Chantilly Cream and berries or keep it sweet and simple and have it as is!

If you’re like me and you love lemon desserts, I have some great ones on here. My Moist Lemon Loaf Cake is so aromatic and has a tangy drizzle on top. I have a great Lemon Meringue Pie recipe that is based on this recipe except it has a mountain of fluffy meringue on top.

This Lemon Tart is simple, but not basic.

If you love simple desserts then this is for you. There are two main components to this tart, that’s it! The filling and crust!

• Buttery Tart Crust – a sweet (but not overly sweet) and buttery tart crust that bakes crisp but is still tender. Kind of similar to shortbread cookies.
• Lemon Filling – the filling is creamy, soft and melt in your mouth. Flavor wise it’s not overly sweet or sour, but the zest provides loads of lemon flavor.
• Can be dressed up – you can dress this up with my Chantilly Cream served on the side or even some Marshmallow Meringue Frosting if you like.

I went through 8 rounds of testing for this Tart to make it Fool-Proof.

I started off my recipe testing for this Lemon tart by using the filling from my Lemon Bars recipe, but it didn’t work for this recipe. It cracked time and time again and that was because of the amount of eggs I was using. It was overly sweet for this tart too, so I pivoted and tried to find a way to make it less sweet.

I was hesitant to add cream to the filling because I knew it would dilute that gorgeous deep golden yellow in the filling, but the cream allowed me to lessen the lemon juice and sugar which made it way less sweet and sour. The addition of lemon zest also added loads of lemon flavor without it needing too much lemon juice. The problem I ran into though was massive cracks once the tart filling cooled.

I ended up letting it cool slowly in the oven and lowering the amount of eggs. The egg whites were causing the filling to contract as it cooled and so the filling cracked and came away from the side of the tart shell.

8 batches later and less eggs, I’ve come up with a creamy, perfectly balanced lemon filling that isn’t offensive to the sense. It’s just full of flavor!

Lemons: the star of the show!

I think there are far too many recipes out there that are overly sweet and overly sour. Not this one. It’s got a boost of lemon flavor without being overly sour and that’s because we use loads of lemon zest. The oils in the lemon skin are released when we zest it and hold so much aromatic flavor. That transfers into the tart filling. That’s the biggest reason we use fresh lemons.

By the way, this recipe uses A LOT of lemons. About 11 small lemons. Just so you know.

TIP: Before zesting your lemons, make sure you give them a wash under warm water and dry them to get rid of the wax on them that makes them look shiny. Idealy you want to buy unwaxed, organic lemons if you can get them!

Making the Sweet Tart Crust

I love the Sweet Tart Crust because it’s really easy to work with and it comes out crisp which means it won’t soften as quickly or easily when you add wet fillings. You can use it for both no-bake fillings and for fillings that need further baking.

TIP: When baking the Tart for this recipe, bake it for a final 15 minutes for the blind baking stage as the tart will be baked further when you bake it with the filling.

Making the tart shell is easy and it can be made up to a day in advance. Make sure when making the dough that you don’t skip the one-hour chill time in the fridge. This makes the dough way easier to work with. For all the all the tips and tricks including full measurements and method check out the Sweet Tart Crust.

How to make the Lemon Tart Filling

• Whisk the flour and sugar together.
• Whisk the eggs, egg yolks, cream and vanilla extract. Then add the flour and sugar mixture and whisk.

• Let this rest in the fridge for 20 minutes before using a spoon to skim off the mixture to prevent the tart from cracking as it cools.
• Zest the lemons into a bowl. Set aside.

• Run the mixture through a sieve into the bowl with the lemon zest and whisk.
• Juice the lemons and run them through a sieve. Then add the lemon juice and whisk in.

• Pour into the blind baked tart shell. Bake for 45 minutes or until slightly jiggly in the center. Allow to cool for an hour in the oven with the door slightly ajar. This will help it cool down slowly and prevent cracks.
• Use a blow torch to pop any air bubbles that may be floating on the top. This is optional, but if you have one, highly recommend doing it!

• Once it reaches room temperature, transfer to the fridge and chill for a couple hours. Slice and serve!

How do I know if my Lemon Filling is baked?

The lemon filling bakes on a really low and gentle temperature which results in a soft, melt in your mouth experience. After about 45 minutes the tart will be fully baked but still be a little jiggly in the center. Not wobbly and wavy as though it’s liquidy, it will be jiggly like a soft custard. The residual heat in the filling and oven will finish fully baking it as it cools in the oven.

TIP: It’s important to let the lemon tart cool down slowly in the oven with the oven door slightly ajar for 1 hour. If you take it out too soon it will cool down too quickly and contract which may cause it to crack.

My Tips And Tricks

• Measure out using kitchen scales – measuring ingredients out by weight and not cups is the best way to get consistent results every time! I wrote all about this in my post about using digital kitchen scales!
• To make this tart you will need a 10-inch tart tin. Anything smaller or shorter and you will have left over filling.
• Make sure you use fresh lemons! Reconstituted lemons will not work for this recipe. Plus, you need lemon zest for this recipe.
• Skim off the froth from the egg and cream mixture. This will help prevent cracking as the tart cools.
• You’ll know your tart is baked when it’s slightly jiggly in the center.
• Allow your tart to cool in the oven with the oven door slightly ajar when it’s finished baking so that it cools down slowly to avoid cracking.
• If you have a blow torch and there are bubbles on top of your tart, use the blow torch to pop them before placing in the oven.
• Fill the tart as close to the oven as you can and place on a large baking tray to make it easy to transfer in and out. The tart will be very full when filling.

Frequently Asked Questions about this Lemon Tart

How to store the baked Lemon Tart.

This tartcan be stored in an airtight container for up to three days before it begins sweating. Please note: the tart shell will begin to soften after about a day as it soaks in the moisture from the filling.

What size tart tin did you use?

For this recipe, you will need a tart tin that is 22.5cm / 10-inches in width and 3.5cm / 1 1/4-inches in height. Anything smaller in width or shorter than that and you will have leftover filling.

Can I make this into mini lemon tarts?

I didn’t test making it into smaller tarts, but there’s no reason you couldn’t do it. If making smaller tarts, you will need to adjust the baking time. It won’t need as long to bake. Haven’t tested it yet so I couldn’t tell you how long.

Why did my lemon filling crack?

I tested this recipe 8 times and ran into issues with cracking which is why I’ve left instructions in the recipe card below on how to avoid these. If your tart happened to crack, it’ll still taste great! But this might be why it happened.

1. Overbaked – The pie was overbaked. Bake only until the center of the filling has a very slight wobble.
2. Cooled too quickly – allow to cool in the oven for 1 hour with the door slightly ajar. I use a wooden spoon jammed in the door to keep it open.
3. Bubbles – if there are bubbles or froth from whisking the eggs left on top of the tart when it goes in the oven, those can cause the filling to crack as it cools. During my testing I found that leaving them on, would be one of the reasons why it cracked. Make sure you let your cream and egg mixture rest in the fridge, then skim off the froth/bubbles before adding the lemon juice. It’s a super important step!

Why is this recipe in grams and not cups?

The short answer is accuracy! It is far easier, more accurate and you get more consistent results when you measure ingredients by weight, especially in dessert and bread baking! I wrote all about this in my post about using digital kitchen scales!

Gave this a go? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below! Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and TikTok for more great recipes!