Here you'l learn how to make the most delicious, fresh and zingy Lemon Tart recipe you've ever tasted. It has a crumbly and buttery almond biscotti crust and a creamy and vibrant lemon curd filling. This recipe is super easy to make and perfect served with just a sprinkle of confectioner's sugar.
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- deliciously tangy, refreshing, light.
- perfect dessert after a heavy meal.
- the crisp almond biscotti crust balances the creamy lemon curd filling.
Delectable sweet and tangy lemon curd in a buttery, shortcrust pastry.
🛒 Ingredients
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Note: The full list of Lemon Tart recipe ingredients with their amounts and options are in the recipe card below.
- Almond biscotti-- forms the base of the lemon dessert recipe.
- Unsalted Butter -- adds smoothness and richness.
- Lemon juice -- the base of the lemon dessert.
- Lemon zest -- adds to the deep lemon flavor.
- Cornstarch -- helps to thicken and firm the tart.
- Water -- to make the filling.
- Egg yolks -- sets the lemon curd.
- Sugar -- sweetens and balances the acidity.
🗒 Instructions
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Preheat your oven your oven to 350℉. In a ziplock bag or food processor, finely crush the biscotti. Place the crumbs in a mixing bowl.
- Melt the butter and combine with the crushed cookies.
- Transfer the cookie butter mix to the tart pan.
- Firmly press the cookie crumbs to the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Set aside.
- In a small saucepan mix together the cornstarch and sugar on medium high heat.
- Slowly add in the cold water, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
- Add in your egg yolks while constantly stirring with a whisk until it thickens, about 10 minutes.
- Boil for 1 minute, then turn off heat and set aside. Add in lemon juice, zest and 1 tablespoon of butter. Stir together and set aside, allow it to cool.
- Once the crust and lemon curd cools, pour the curd into the baked crust.
- Set the lemon tart into the refrigerator to firm up for 2-3 hours.
- Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
- Slice and serve.
🔪 Equipment
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You’ll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
- Saucepan
- Whisk
- Lemon squeezer
- Tart pan
- Fine sieve -- this is for dusting with the powdered sugar.
- Liquid measuring cup
- Measuring spoons
- Mixing bowl
🤔 FAQs
Questions frequently asked about the Lemon Tart Recipe.
My favorite lemon tart tastes just like a classic 'tarte au citron' from France. It has shallow sides, a crumbly, sweet, cookie-like crust, and classic lemon curd filling with just enough butter to make it creamy and not too sour. Since the filling is quite rich, the lemon layer isn't very thick.
Here's a dessert whose name is totally accurate. The noun, “tart,” is a pastry dessert with a fruit filling. The adjective, “tart,” describes a sour/bitter taste found in many foods.
Let the dessert cool on a wire rack until the tart is room temperature, about 1 hour. If not serving right away, chill it for 1 hour and then wrap it in plastic; refrigerate overnight or freeze.
A lemon tart is a dessert dish that has a pastry or crumb shell with a lemon flavored filling. The filling is a baked lemon custard usually composed of eggs, sugar, lemon juice and a liquid).
👩🏻🍳 Tips
- To get ½ cup of lemon juice, you’ll need about 3-4 lemons. Keep in mind, larger lemons often have thicker skin and won’t necessarily produce more juice!
- When juicing lemons, place them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to warm them slightly. This helps release more juice when you squeeze them.
- When baking and using both rind and juice, grate the rind before cutting and juicing. This will make it easier to get the greatest amount of rind off the fruit.
- When grating the rind make sure you don’t include too much of the white pith: it can be very bitter and may change the flavor of your tart.
📚 Variations
Instead of a biscotti crust you may use the typical French Sweet Tart crust. It is also light and delicious, more of a pie crust than a crumb crust.
A shortbread crust is also very popular with the lemon tart recipe. Try them all and see which you prefer. We love the almond flavor of the biscotti.
🥫 Storage
Store the lemon tart at a cool room temperature for up to 1 day or covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
📗 Related Recipes
If you like tarts, you'll love our Upside Down Plum Tart. The Italian dessert is so delicious with a thick rich sauce that dressed the fruit tart.
Another Italian fruit dessert we love is one that you can make in the slow cooker. It's also an upside down cake only it's made with pears.
Our No-Bake Cherry Delight is a wonderful summer dessert but using cherry pie filling makes it easy to whip up all year long.
Another delicious dessert you've got to try is our Chocolate Italian Love Cake Recipe. You'll fall head over heels in love.
These desserts are elegant and they never cease to impressive our family and dinner companions.
🍽 Serve with
This tart doesn't need a fancy topping. If you want to dress it up for company, add a dollop of whipped cream with some berries on the side to complete the plate.
Here are more ideas that go well with this Lemon Tart:
- Creme fraiche – The super-rich cream is delightful against the zippy tartness of the lemon;
- Whipped cream – Lightly sweetened with a touch of sugar and vanilla or
- Vanilla ice cream
📞 Chiacchierata (chat)
If I had to choose one favorite dessert it would easily be a lemon tart. I love the brightness a good lemon tart delivers. This simple dessert has a minimalist elegance. That's why I think that the best finish to the dessert is a light dusting of confectioners' sugar.
This lemon recipe is my idea of a perfect dessert with a buttery cookie-like crust and a bold tart filling with little flecks of lemon rind.
I truly believe that lemon tarts are a year-round dessert. They bring brightness and warmth in the dead of winter and a thirst quenching tartness in the heat of summer.
What's new? Check out my All Our Way Store on Amazon. We'll be adding more items we love and use or wish we had to make cooking fun and easy.
📝 Recipe Card
This is an elegant, classic French Lemon Tart recipe I modified to make it a bit Italian with the biscotti crust. It's fairly easy to make. Just be patient and don't rush it. The lemon tart filling is my ideal: smooth and melt-in-your-mouth creamy, and not too sweet or too tart.
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.
📖 Recipe
Lemon Tart With Almond Biscotti Crust
Equipment Needed
Ingredients
Tart Crust
- 2 cups Almond biscotti crushed (If you can't find it, you can use normal biscotti with almond extract.)
- ⅓ cup Unsalted Butter
Lemon Curd Filling
- ¼ cup Fresh lemon juice
- 4 Tablespoons Cornstarch
- 1 ½ cups Cold water
- 3 Egg yolks
- 1 Tablespoon Unsalted Butter
- 1 cup Granulated sugar
Tart Topping
- ¼ cup Confectioners' Sugar (optional) for sprinkling on top
Instructions
Tart crust
- Preheat your oven to 350℉. Finely crush your biscotti in a food processor or ziplock bag. Melt ⅓ cup unsalted butter and combine with the crushed cookies. Pour the cookie crumbs into your tart dish. Firmly press the biscotti crumbs onto the bottom and up the sides.
- Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Set Aside.
Lemon Curd Filling
- While the crust bakes make the curd. In a medium saucepan whisk together cornstarch and sugar and turn on heat to medium high. Slowly add in the cold water, stirring until the sugar dissolves. add in the egg yolks while constantly stirring with a whisk until the mixture thickens. (About 10 minutes)
- Bring the mixture to a boil while constantly stirring. Allow it to boil for 1 minute. Turn off the heat and set aside.
- Add the lemon juice, zest and 1 Tablespoon butter. Stir together and set aside, allowing the curd to cool.
- Once the crust and curd have cooled, pour your lemon cud into the baked biscotti crust. There may be a few tablespoons of curd leftover depending on the size of your tart dish. Just save the delicious lemon curd for later.
- Set the tart in the fridge to firm up for 2-3 hours.
- Sprinkle with Confectioners' sugar or serve with whipped cream.
- Buon appetito!
Notes
- To get ½ cup of lemon juice, you’ll need about 3-4 lemons. Keep in mind, larger lemons often have thicker skin and won’t necessarily produce more juice!
- When juicing lemons, place them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds to warm them slightly. This helps release more juice when you squeeze them.
- When baking and using both rind and juice, grate the rind before cutting and juicing. This will make it easier to get the greatest amount of rind off the fruit.
- When grating the rind make sure you don’t include too much of the white pith: it can be very bitter and may change the flavor of your tart.
