Tarte au Citron (French Lemon Tart)
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The Tarte au Citron aka French lemon Tart was my absolute favorite tart in the bakery for a long time. There’s nothing better than the contrast between the creamy lemon curd and the crumbly buttery shortcrust pastry! I love making it when I have friends over, it’s always a hot and I get compliments every time! Today I’m sharing with you my Tarte au Citron recipe, and you’ll see: It’s actually much easier than it looks.
In This Article
3 Tips To Make The Perfect Lemon Tart
- Use Organic Lemons: I recommend using organic lemons so you can safely use the zest. I like to rub the zest of one or sometimes even two directly into the sugar beforehand. This will release the oils and makes the lemon curd really intense in flavors.
- Precision: French pâtisserie is about precision. Don’t skip any steps or resting times. And, I recommend to use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients accurately.
- Bake a Day Ahead: The best is to bake your tart the day before and let it rest in the fridge. This gives the lemon curd enough time to set, allows the flavors to intensify, and ensures you can cut beautiful, clean slices later.
In a hurry? A classic French lemon tart isn’t the best choice if you’re short on time. However, if you’re craving that citrus punch but need something faster, you can try my super lemony Lemon Loaf Cake instead!
👉Recipe Card
Tarte au Citron (French Lemon Tart)
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Equipment
- 1 Tart pan 24–26 cm/ 9–10 inches
Ingredients
For the shortcrust pastry (Pâte Sucrée)
- 2/3 cup butter 150 g
- 3/4 cup icing sugar 95 g
- 1 large egg about 60 g
- 1/4 cup ground almonds 30 g
- 2 cups all-purpose flour 250 g
- 1 pinch salt
For the Lemon Curd
- 3/4 cup sugar 150 g
- 4 eggs
- 2 tbsp cornstarch 20 g
- 4 large lemons organic, for 3/4 cup (175 ml) lemon juice and the zest of 1-2 lemon
- 7 tbsp unsalted butter 100 g, cold and diced
Instructions
Prepare the shortcrust pastry (Pâte Sucrée)
- Take the butter and egg out of the refrigerator an hour in advance. The butter should be soft, like a creamy texture.
- In a stand mixer (using the paddle attachment), beat the butter and icing sugar until creamy.
- Then add the egg and ground almonds, and continue beating until creamy.
- Finally, gently mix in the flour and salt just until a smooth dough forms. Important: do not overwork the dough!
- Shape the dough into a ball (it will be sticky, which is normal; it’s important not to add extra flour!).
- Roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper to about 10–11 inches (26–28 cm) and let it rest flat in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Lightly grease the tart pan and place the dough inside. Chill again for 45 minutes (this prevents the edges from shrinking during baking). Prick the bottom with a fork, line with parchment paper, and fill with blind baking weights (or rice/beans).
- Blind bake at 350°F (180°C) for 20–25 minutes until golden brown. (Optional: brush with egg yolk 5 minutes before the end to seal.) Let cool completely.
Prepare the lemon curd
- In a mixing bowl, rub the sugar and the zest of one or two lemons (depending on how “lemony” you want it) together with your fingers. Add the eggs and whisk until it turns pale.
- Then stir in the cornstarch and whisk until there are no lumps left.
- Squeeze the lemons and measure 3/4 cup (175 ml) of juice. Heat the juice in a saucepan until it starts to simmer. Slowly pour half of the warm lemon juice into the egg-sugar mixture while whisking. This gently warms the eggs.
- Return everything to the saucepan and heat the over medium heat, stirring constantly. The curd will start to thicken but it is not done yet! As soon as the mixture starts to bubble (first boil), continue stirring for exactly 30 more seconds, then remove from the heat.
- Then add the cold butter cubes and optionally blend with an immersion blender for a dew seconds to get a smoother texture.
Assembling the tart
- Pour the lemon curd over the cold tart crust and smooth the surface. Let it set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
- Before serving, decorate with small meringues kisses, mint leaves, or lemon slices.
Nutrition
How To Make a Smooth Lemon Curd?
Making lemon curd is actually very easy, but it can quickly turn into “scrambled eggs” if you cook too high. To prevent this, I like to use a technique called tempering (the same as for crème pâtissière). Here is how to do it:
- Infuse: Rub the lemon zest into the sugar between your fingers to release the oils. Whisk it then with the eggs and a little cornstarch (for stability).
- Temper: Heat the lemon juice until it reaches a gentle simmer, then slowly pour a portion of it into the egg and sugar mixture while whisking constantly. This tempers the eggs so you don’t end up with scrambled eggs!
- Thicken: Return the entire mixture to the pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the curd thickens.
- The “Spatula Test”: Once your spatula leaves a clear trail and you can see the bottom of the pan, remove from the heat.
- Butter: Finally, stir in a little butter until it is fully incorporated. It will make the lemon curd glossy,
Tip: If the cream is not completely smooth, you can simply blend it briefly with a hand blender.
The Best Shortcrust Pastry For A French Lemon Tart
In France, a tarte au citron is always made with a pâte sucrée. You could translate this as “shortcrust pastry,” but that is not exactly the same. A Pâte sucrée contains more butter and a little ground almonds than a traditional shortcrust pastry. This makes the crust more stable and less crumbly.
And, not only the ingredients but the technique to make it is different:
- Classic Shortcrust or Pâte Sablée (Sablage): The butter is rubbed into the flour to create a sandy texture before the egg is added to bind it.
- Pâte Sucrée (Crémage): The butter and sugar are first creamed together until light and fluffy (crémer), followed by the eggs and dry ingredients. This “creaming” method gives at the end in a firmer, more cookie-like base, perfect to support the lemon curd without getting soggy.
Coming Soon: I will share soon more tips on how to make a pâte sucrée in a separate post.
The one step that prevents your tart base from getting soft
This is a tip I once learned from a French baker. I don’t always do it, but if you want to be on the safe side, it’s great: seal the crust.
About 5 minutes before the end of the blind baking time, briefly remove the shortcrust pastry from the oven, brush thinly with beaten egg yolk and finish baking. The egg yolk forms a wafer-thin protective layer and the base remains nice and crispy or croquant, as we say in France!
Tarte au Citron – With or Without Meringue?
In France, you will find the tarte au citron meringuée, a lemon tat with a layer meringue on top, in almost every boulangerie, The meringue balances out the acidity of the lemon curd.
To be honest, I personally like both versions! In spring, I tend to go for the plain lemon tart. It’s fresher, even simpler and the lemon really comes into its own. Sometimes I decorate it with a few small meringues kisses if I have any. And sometimes I just fancy the version with meringue on top. It really is a matter of taste. Both are great!
FAQ about French Lemon Tart
No, and that’s the beauty of this recipe! The cream, also known as lemon curd, is simply cooked in a pan on the stove, so it is already “ready” when it goes into the tart base. The only important thing is to leave it to cool in the fridge for long enough, at least 4 hours.
There are usually two reasons for this: Either the cream has not been heated long enough and needs to bubble briefly for the starch to develop its full binding power. Or you were a little too generous when measuring out the lemon juice. And sometimes it’s quite simple: not chilled long enough! I think overnight is always best.
Yes, I even recommend it! When the tart rests in the fridge overnight, the flavors set perfectly and the cream gets just the right consistency to cut cleanly.
It’s best to keep the tart in the fridge. Avoid covering it directly with plastic wrap, as this can cause condensation to form on that beautiful, smooth surface. If you have a cake dome, that’s ideal. This way, it will stay fresh for 2–3 days.
Yes, that works! The lemon cream freezes well. However, it is best to freeze the tart without decoration. To thaw, simply place in the fridge overnight. Please do not defrost in the microwave or oven, otherwise you will completely destroy the texture of the cream.
More French Sweet Tarts
If you’re as big a fan of tarts as I am, then you absolutely have to try these recipes.
Wow 😲
I have wanted to try and make this tart for a while and today I finally did it !!!!!!!!
Your recipe and guidance are super easy Geraldine, I literally nearly fainted when I finally tried the lemon curd, I danced around the house and hugged my boyfriend with the excitement of my success.
I have one thing to point out, your step by step, might be simpler if you had the ingredients quantity there as well, I found I was scrolling back to the top of the page to see how much of what was needed next.
Otherwise I love it, love your blog, already follow you on the socials, a million thanks from an over ecstatic Irish boy ☘️
Hi Peterling, thank you so much for your comment, and congratulations on your first lemon curd! Thanks also for the tips about the ingredient quantities. The idea is actually for readers to print the recipe card for the ingredients and step-by-step instructions, while the article itself is meant to guide those who need a little extra help and a more detailed explanation. But thanks for pointing this out, I will make sure to take it into account for my next posts!
Lovely tart!
Thank you, Cami!
Formidable! 🍋😚
Thank you!
Thanks you for recipe. I’m willing to try it! however I have a question about eggs – do we need the whole egg, or just yolk? Won’t the egg white curdle when you add half of juice into sugar-egg mixture?
Thank you for so tasty recipe!
Hi Yasna, you will need the whole eggs 🙂 No, it wo’ont curdle, don’t add it boiling hot, but just like when it starts to simmer. If you want to be precise, you can measure and below 84 °C (184 °F), there is no danger to curdle!
Merci beaucoup! I can’t wait to make this- it looks delicious!
You’re welcome, let me know if you try it 😉