Easy homemade lemon tart is a great citrus dessert made from scratch & using basic ingredients. It’s a perfect baking project for kids as well!
This homemade lemon tart is also perfect for beginner bakers! No special skills are required and the final result is well worth it!
I fell in love with lemon tart while living in Scotland. It was over 10 years ago. I loved everything about this citrus dessert. Even though I did not bake or cook much back then I made sure to write down this easy lemon tart recipe.
You see, lemon tart was not a common dessert where I come from back then and I dare to say that it is not much different now.
It is a shame because this is such a delicious homemade dessert! What do you think? Do you like citrus desserts? I like them a lot! Imagine thumbprint cookies or mini chocolate cups with homemade lemon curd! Easy to make desserts where lemon is the main or one of the main ingredients.
What do I like about this homemade lemon tart?
- Its sweetness & tartness at the same time.
- It’s simple preparation.
- Basic ingredients – 7 basic ingredients that don’t cost much.
- No kneading is required.
- No rolling out is needed.
- Great recipe for beginner bakers and a fun baking project for kids.
- 100% made from scratch – you can’t beat the homemade lemon tart recipe with the shop-bought version.
Guys, making homemade desserts is easier than you think!
How to make homemade lemon tart – step by step
Let’s divide the process into 2 steps!
Step 1 – Making the crust:
Everyone can do this! And I really mean everyone. Even kids! Actually, this is a perfect baking project for kids. Do you know why? Well, the answer is in this crust.
Making lemon tart crust is easy and more importantly it’s fun. This is not the type of pastry that needs to be rolled out nicely. No no no! This one you basically stick to your cake tin. So kids will love doing this. Trust me!
So it goes like this: flour, butter & sugar are combined until a sticky dough is formed. That is it. This takes about a minute. All you have to do now is cover the bottom and sides of your cake tin with it. Evenly-ish, if possible.
Step 2 – Making the lemon tart filling:
Get a bowl and throw the rest of the ingredients in. Whisk. Pour over the pastry and bake. You see, this is really easy and I am telling you, your kids will love making this lemon tart with you!
A few tips:
Homemade lemon tart is one of my favorite pies and I’ve made it several times. It always tastes delicious. To make the baking as smooth as possible check out these tips:
- Butter your cake tin well. Be more than generous. If you grease your tin properly, you will be able to take out this lemon tart without any trouble.
- If for some reason you find the pastry too hard to work with, add some extra melted butter.
- Bake until the filling is set and the crust is golden brown.
Toppings: Lemon tart tastes even better when topped with sour cream, ice cream or whipped cream. I personally prefer eating this lemon tart with sour cream.
So now that you know everything you should know about making this easy lemon tart recipe you can give it a try!
Good to know:
This recipe can be easily doubled!
Check out my other dessert recipes with lemon:
Want to see how to make Lemon Tart? Watch the video!
Simple Homemade Lemon Tart
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1 cup plain flour (130 grams)
- 1 stick unsalted butter (110 grams)
- 4 tablespoons powdered sugar
For the lemon filling:
- ¼ cup whipping cream
- ¼ cup caster sugar
- 1 egg (large)
- lemon juice (from 1 large lemon – at least 1/3 cup)
Instructions
- Mix flour, melted butter and icing sugar in a bowl until you get soft dough.
- Press this soft dough into the base of your cake tin and up the sides. Pierce the dough several times with a fork.
- Bake it blind for 20 minutes at 375°F/190°C. Take it out & let it cool down. Reduce oven temperature to 300°F/150°C.
- In a bowl, whisk caster sugar, egg, cream and lemon juice. Carefully pour into the cooled pastry case.
- Return to the oven and bake for a further 35–40 minutes or until the filling is set.
- Take it out and let cool down completely before removing it from the tin.
- Dust with icing sugar and serve.
- Happy Baking!
Ada says
Hello,
I have made this recipe couple of times now and I have to say WE LOVE IT. It’s a great desert for any weather and occasion – even made it for my birthday few weeks back! Recipe is simple and the taste is just delicious.
Ada
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thank you so much for your feedback, Ada! :)
Nobonita Chowdhury says
I’ve made this several times now, as mini tartlets as well as one big tart. My family loves it! I’ve recently used the tart shell recipe to make mango tarts, since it’s mango season here and I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thanks so much for your feedback, Nobonita! I love the idea of turning this into mini lemon tarts. I must try mango flavor too!
Shaizi says
Hi,
Thanks for the recipe. I just want to know do we have to pre heat the oven. If yes what will be the temperature settings.
Thanks
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Yes, you need to pre-heat the oven to the same temperature you will be cooking the tart in – 375°F/190°C.
Sally Barnard says
My lemon filling is all bubbly on the top sadly. How long do you mix the liquid ingredients for? Maybe I over mixed?
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Sally, what kind of cream did you use? This recipe works only with whipping cream/double(heavy) cream only. The mixing will not affect the cooking. I would just cook it until it is set – perhaps reduce the temperature if you see the pastry crust is too brown. Hope this helps.
Li says
Hi, Can i freeze this tart ?
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
I have never tried so I am afraid I can’t help here. Please do let us know if you give it a try.
Ashley Hanson says
Hi! I love this recipe and have made many times, it is so great!
Do you have a conversion for the recipe for a 9 inch pan?? Would be super appreciative! Thank you :)
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Ashley. Thanks so much for your feedback. I am afraid I don’t have a conversion for a 9-inch pan. However, I would probably increase the pastry ingredients by 1/2 so instead of 1 cup of flour you would use 1.5 cups, instead of 1 stick butter you would use 1.5, etc…As for the filling you could do the same or double it (you might be able to use up all of it, depending how high your pie pan is). Hope this helps. Please do let us know how it turned out when you get a chance.
leena cheung says
Looks like my pastry around the edges shrunk. Not sure if I should continue with the filling
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
If there is enough pastry around that will hold the filling in place, then definitely pour the filling in.
Aya says
Do I have to use caster sugar or regular granulated sugar works also?
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Aya. Granulated sugar should work just as well. Happy baking!
Nina Stevens says
Hi I was just wondering how to remove the tart from the cake pan. The recipe is perfect for Easter. But since it’s not a springform pan I’m concerned. Do I just use strips of parchment underneath the crust? Thank you
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Nina. Sorry for the late reply. Your comment seemed to end up in spam. I always use regular what we call a sandwich pan and never had problem taking it out. The trick is use quite a lot of softened butter to grease the pan (bottom as well as sides). It’s better to over-do it with butter rather than under do it. If still worried, then simply line the bottom and sides with baking parchment. Hope this helps!
Hannah says
Hi there, just want to double check I’ve understood correctly- baking the pastry blind means lining it with parchment and putting in ceramic beans or similar…is that right? Thanks so much- it looks and sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try!
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Hannah. Baking blind means pre-baking the pastry without its filling. You can use ceramic beans if you wish, but I don’t do it all the time. However, sometimes the pastry may rise up without them.
Odete says
Dear Bakers
I would like to bake your delicious Tart but my measuring cup is 250ml…so unsure about measurements.
Kind regards
Odete
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Odete. I am not sure what you mean…
Louise Bichler says
Can you use lemon juice instead of 1 lemon
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Yes, you can!
Gabby says
Great recipe easy to double or even triple my family loves it😍
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Thank you so much for finding time to leave the feedback and rating, Gabby!
Benita says
This is the most delicious lemon tart. Perfect buttery crust. Made it twice. Second time one recipe of crust and doubled the lemon. The lemon filling is wonderful.
Thank you
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Benita. Thanks so much for finding time to leave feedback and rating. I am glad you like this recipe as much as we do! My sister makes it all the time :)!
Esther says
Is the oven temperature for fan assisted or conventional ovens please. Thanks.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Esther. It is for conventional ovens.
Margaret says
Can I use a tart pan with a removable bottom?
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Yes, you can!
Jessica says
Can I made this days before? How to do and store?
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Jessica. To be honest, this is best enjoyed shortly after being baked. It will be tasty the following days as well but as with many baked goods, the quality and freshness will change. Not sure how many days you would like to make it ahead. If you make it ahead, don’t go over 3 days. Perhaps 2 would be better. Then I would let it cool completely, wrap in a plastic wrap and keep in the fridge until ready to serve. Please take this as a guide only because I have not done it to test it myself. This is what I would do. Hope this helps!
Donna T says
I haven’t made this yet, but am wondering about the amounts for the filling as it hardly seems like enough to fill the crust. It calls for 1 egg, 1/4 c. Heavy cream , 1/4 c. sugar and about 1/3 c lemon juice. That hardly seems like enough liquid to cover the bottom of the pan. It simply says to whisk the ingredients so I interpret that as not really whipping the heavy cream into any stiffer peaks. Also, my tart pan is 9.5in. so I was planning to double the filling. Please advise as I’d love to make this. Thanks much.
Julia | Happy Foods Tube says
Hi Donna. So sorry for the late reply. Just to clarify: Yes it is only a little filling but plenty for a shallow pan which it was made in. You don’t beat the heavy cream separately. Yes, I would recommend doubling the filling if you are using a larger pan or if you have a deeper pan.