Homemade Lemon Tart Recipe

Sink your teeth into this light and refreshing Lemon Tart Recipe with mascarpone and fresh berries in a simple pie crust. The creamy flavors in this lemon tart make for the perfect dessert to serve up during the spring and summer.

Is there anything better than a sweet treat after a deliciously savory meal? If you need to fulfill your sweet tooth cravings, try my Blackberry Cobbler or Ricotta Olive Oil Cake.

Lemon Tart

Lemon tart is a simple dessert consisting of lemon curd that is added to a pre-baked pie crust and chilled until solidified. This has bright lemon flavors with a creamy smooth finish from the mascarpone and cream cheese. Tarts have been around for centuries since their inception in the late 1800s in France. They can have an assortment of fillings and can be small one-bite-size treats or like a pie in size.

While tarts are commonly thin, I enjoy a thicker tart in a two-inch-deep tart pan for my recipe. You can however cut the filling recipe in half and serve it in a regular 1” deep tart pan if you prefer a more classical-sized tart.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Pie Crust – You will need a pie crust for this recipe.
• Eggs – Large eggs and egg yolks are needed. These can be cold or room temperature.
• Lemon – You will need the zest and juice of lemons.
• Sugar – Granulated sugar and powdered sugar are needed for the filling.
• Butter – I always use unsalted butter in my cooking and baking so that I control the salt content.
• Cheese – I use a combination of Mascarpone and cream cheese in this lemon tart.

How to Make a Lemon Tart from Scratch

In a food processor add in the pie crust ingredients plus ½ cup of powdered sugar and pulse until a dough has formed. Transfer the dough to a clean surface and roll it out until it is about 1/8” thick.

Form it into a 2” inch deep 8” round tart pan. Trim off any excess.

Bake in the oven at 400° for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked. Let it cool.

In a large metal bowl over a medium size pot of boiling water, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, ¼ cup of sugar, zest of ½ lemon, and juice of 1 lemon until it becomes very thick, like a custard, which is about 2 to 4 minutes. Be sure to whisk constantly. Remove the bowl and whisk in the butter until it has melted. Cool the mixture in the refrigerator until completely cooled.

In a standing mixture with the whip attachment on high speed, mix the mascarpone and cream cheese until light and fluffy, which takes about 5 to 7 minutes, and then add in the remaining lemon zest, lemon juice, and powdered sugar. Mix until combined, and then fold in the chilled lemon curd.

Pour the mixture into the cooked pie shell and cool overnight in the refrigerator or until it firms up.

Garnish with berries and serve!

Make-Ahead and Storage

Make-Ahead: You can make this up to 1 day ahead of time.

How to Store: Cover the Lemon Tart and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can freeze this covered for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 day before slicing and serving.

Chef Notes + Tips

• Add 1/4 cup of sugar to the curd if you like sweeter tarts.

Chef Notes + Tips

More Dessert Recipes

• Coconut Cake
• Fudgy Brownies
• Chocolate Cheesecake
• Apple Crisp
• Strawberry Shortcake

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Homemade Lemon Tart Recipe

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5 from 5 votes

Sink your teeth into this light and refreshing Lemon Tart Recipe with mascarpone and fresh berries in a simple pie crust.

Servings: 8

Prep Time: 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 9 hours hours 5 minutes minutes

Ingredients 

For the Crust:

• 1 pie dough crust recipe
• ½ cup powdered sugar

For the Filling:

• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• ¼ cup of sugar
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 2 lemons, about 6 tablespoons
• 1 stick unsalted ice-cold butter, cut up
• 16 ounces mascarpone cheese
• 4 ounces cream cheese
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• assorted fresh berries

Instructions

• In a food processor, add in the pie crust ingredients plus ½ cup of powdered sugar and pulse until a dough has formed. Slowly drizzle in the water while pulsing until it becomes a meal-like texture.
• Transfer the dough to a clean surface and roll it out until it is about 1/8” thick. Form it into a 2” inch deep 8” round tart pan. Trim off any excess.
• Bake in the oven at 400° for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned and cooked. Let it cool.
• In a large metal bowl over a medium size pot of boiling water, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, ¼ cup of sugar, zest of ½ lemon, and juice of 1 lemon until it becomes very thick, like a custard, which is about 2 to 4 minutes. Be sure to whisk constantly. Remove the bowl and whisk in the butter until it has melted. Cool the mixture in the refrigerator until completely cooled.
• In a standing mixture with the whip attachment on high speed, mix the mascarpone and cream cheese until light and fluffy, which takes about 5 to 7 minutes, and then add in the remaining lemon zest, lemon juice, and powdered sugar. Mix until combined, and then fold in the chilled lemon curd.
• Pour the mixture into the cooked pie shell and cool overnight in the refrigerator or until it firms up. Garnish with berries and serve!

Notes

Make-Ahead: You can make this up to 1 day ahead of time.

How to Store: Cover the Lemon Tart and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. You can freeze this covered for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 day before slicing and serving.

Add 1/4 cup of sugar to the curd if you like sweeter tarts.

Nutrition

Calories: 426kcalCarbohydrates: 38gProtein: 8gFat: 26gSaturated Fat: 16gCholesterol: 130mgSodium: 77mgPotassium: 58mgFiber: 1gSugar: 17gVitamin A: 887IUCalcium: 88mgIron: 1mg

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, French

Author: Chef Billy Parisi