Easy Lemon Tart – Creme De La Crumb

Why This Recipe Works

French & Fancy: This French lemon tart recipe is the epitome is of elegance. Just as you would find them in a french patisserie, this lemon tart uses a buttery and flaky pie crust along with a zesty lemon curd filling. Top it off with a dollop of whipped cream or a dusting of powdered sugar and fresh fruit! This elegant dessert will impress all those who eat it!

Easy to Make: All that being said, you don’t have to be a French pastry chef to know how to make a lemon tart from scratch! It is actually quite easy. You can make the pie crust in a food processor like I did here, or you can make it even easier and buy a pre-made pie crust at the store! No one will even know. It will still turn out absolutely delicious and decadent!

Ingredients

For the Pastry

• Flour: All-purpose flour is best for a pastry crust!
• Sugar: For a slightly sweet crust and to help the crust brown in the oven, I like to add a little sugar.
• Butter: You will want to use cold butter straight from the fridge, and cube it into smaller pieces.
• Water: Ice cold water is best to keep the butter cold!

For the Filling

• Eggs: Eggs are used to make a lemon curd filling that is a creamy, dreamy texture!
• Sugar: Sugar will make this dessert sweet and balance the tartness of the lemons.
• Heavy Cream: Some heavy cream makes the lemon tart filling rich and irresistible.
• Lemons: Lemons are the star of the show here! For a perfect lemon flavor, use both the zest and juice of two fresh lemons.
• Butter: Butter rounds out the flavors of the lemon curd filling!

Expert Tips

• Keep everything cold! When making a perfectly tender and flaky pie crust, it is important to use cold butter and ice cold water. The cold butter will evaporate in the oven to create those perfect layers. Without the cold butter, those flaky layers won’t happen!
• Don’t over work the dough! Another key to tender pie crust is to work the dough as little as possible. Make sure to pulse the water into the pie dough in the food processor only until everything is just combined. It wont look like it is fully together until you turn it out and press it into a ball.
• Let it sit prior to cutting into it! I know it is tempting to eat the lemon tart right away, but it is important to let it sit for at least an hour before cutting into it and serving. This gives the lemon tart filling enough time to set!