Lemon Tart

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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!

Simple Homemade Lemon Tart Picture

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!

Simple Homemade Lemon Tart Pictures

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.

Simple Homemade Lemon Tart Pic

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.

Simple Homemade Lemon Tart Photo

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 Image
Print Pin Rate
4.72 from 83 votes

Simple Homemade Lemon Tart

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!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Servings: 5 (1 Pie – 7 inch/18 cm diameter)
Author: Julia

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!

Nutrition

Calories: 373 kcal (19%), Carbohydrates: 36 g (12%), Protein: 4 g (8%), Fat: 23 g (35%), Saturated Fat: 14 g (88%), Cholesterol: 97 mg (32%), Sodium: 20 mg (1%), Potassium: 64 mg (2%), Sugar: 16 g (18%), Vitamin A: 785 IU (16%), Vitamin C: 6.3 mg (8%), Calcium: 22 mg (2%), Iron: 1.3 mg (7%)
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: British
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it turned out! Leave a comment and rating below or tag me on Instagram @happyfoodstube.
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111 Comments

  1. 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 you5 stars

  2. Dear Bakers
    I would like to bake your delicious Tart but my measuring cup is 250ml…so unsure about measurements.
    Kind regards
    Odete

  3. 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!

    1. 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.

  4. 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

    1. 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!

  5. Looks like my pastry around the edges shrunk. Not sure if I should continue with the filling3 stars

  6. 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 :)5 stars

    1. 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.

  7. My lemon filling is all bubbly on the top sadly. How long do you mix the liquid ingredients for? Maybe I over mixed?

    1. 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.

  8. 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.
    Thanks5 stars

  9. 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.

  10. 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

  11. Hi, I’ve tried this twice and it is yummy! I also found that at 20 minutes it was set already. Is it okay to take it out of the oven?5 stars

  12. Hello,

    I recently created this recipe for my family and it was a big hit. I even added fresh strawberries sliced up and laid them all over the tart. I’d just like to thank you for helping me find such an easy recipe with as little ingredients possible.5 stars

  13. Hi,
    I made the the lemon tart yesterday. Is yummy. Can I refrigerate the dough for the crust before lining on the cake pan? As it melts easily an the crust sink or out of shape when oven.

    1. Hi Christine. I am happy to hear you liked this easy dessert. I haven’t tried it so not sure. What you could do is line the crust into the pan (yes, it will be very soft but there is no kneading required so you just “stick it” there. Then, try to refrigerate as is before baking. Hope this helps.