| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr 30 min |
| Prep: | 45 min |
| Cook: | 45 min |
| Yield: | 8 to 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 stick cold butter, cut into pea size pieces
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling dough
- 1 egg yolk
- Pinch salt
- 2 to 4 tablespoons cold water
- 3/4 cup freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice
- 3 Meyer lemons, zested
- 1 1/3 cups sugar
- 5 eggs
- Pinch salt
- 1 1/2 sticks butter, cut into pats
- 1 pint blueberries
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice
- Special equipment: 1 pound dried beans, 10-inch tart pan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- For the dough:
- Put the butter, sugar, flour, egg yolk and salt in a food processor and pulse for 30 to 60 seconds or until the mixture has a grainy consistency, or what I like to call the “Parmesan cheese” stage. Add half of the water and pulse the food processor 2 to 3 times. The dough should start to come together, add the remaining water if needed. Check the consistency of the dough by clenching a small handful in your fist. If the dough stays together it is the proper consistency. If not, pulse the dough with a little more water. When the dough has reached the proper consistency, dump it out on a clean work surface. Using the heel of your hand, schmear the dough straight forward and roll it back with your fingertips. Repeat this process 1 to 2 more times, dust with flour if needed. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 to 1/4-inch in thickness. Lay the dough in the tart pan. Push the dough into the sides of the tart pan by rolling a small scrap of dough into a ball and pushing it into the dough. Roll over the top edge of the tart pan with the rolling pin to cut the extra dough from the pan and create a crisp edge. Cover the dough with aluminum foil and gently poke the foil into the side edges to fit the pan. This will help to keep the sides of the tart tall and straight as it cooks. Fill the tart shell with the dried beans and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, remove the foil and beans and bake for 2 to 3 minutes more. Remove the tart shell from the oven and cool. The dough should be golden and crisp.
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
- In a bowl, combine the lemon juice, zest, sugar, eggs and salt and whisk to a homogeneous consistency. Place in saucepan and bring to a medium heat. Cook, whisking, constantly until the mixture has thickened, about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter, 2 pats at a time until it’s incorporated and has a silky consistency.
- Pour the lemon curd into the prepared tart shell and bake in the preheated oven until the lemon curd has set, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting.
- To garnish: In a small bowl, mix together blueberries, sugar and lemon juice. Serve alongside tart slices.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 453 |
| Total Fat | 26 g |
| Saturated Fat | 15 g |
| Carbohydrates | 54 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 38 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Cholesterol | 155 mg |
| Sodium | 65 mg |
Reviews
Question…I haven’t baked in a really long time but I’m wondering if I can put the curd only recipe in a pre made crust.
Used the lemon curd recipe to add to a GF cup for cup pie crust. Added a lot more lemon rind and a few drops of yuzu to get extra citrus punch. The curd thickened and set up well but I did increase the heat to speed this up a bit. I like how the recipe allows you to add everything at once to the mixing bowl – pretty easy!
I have used this recipe 3-4 times. It is much easier after I used Alton Brown’s tart crust preparation method. I roll out 8 circles, place them carefully in the tart pans, trim the edges then place a second tart pan inside, place it upside down on the baking sheet. Bake according to Anne’s directions, removing the inside pans, bake for another 4-5 minutes. Fill tart pans with the delicious curd and bake according to recipe directions. So much easier than the aluminum foil and dried beans method!
My husband and I love these Meyer Lemon Tarts.
My husband and I love these Meyer Lemon Tarts.
Yum, yum, yum! Definitely five stars for taste. I had a bit of difficulty at first. The dough consistency seemed a bit off to me. Appeared a little too wet, and it stuck to the foil filled with the dried beans. i had to bake the crust quite a bit more without the beans and had to reshape the crust before doing so. I also had to bake the entire tart about seven minutes longer than the recipe said. However, the end result was FANTASTIC! So it was all worth it in the end! Thanks for a great recipe, Anne!
I always read reviews before I make a recipe to see if there are any trends in problems people experience. I don’t review a recipe unless I made it as written, and I trust Anne alot so I didn’t use less butter or alter any of the ingredients. I did, however have to adjust the cooking/baking times. My curd came together in less than 12 minutes, more like 8. I also baked it about 7 minutes longer but in retrospect it probably didn’t need quite that long. But medium on one stove may not be the same as on another, and oven temperatures vary. I didn’t see any oil or separating during baking. I thought it had great flavor and texture. I will make this many times as I have a Myer lemon tree. It’s an easy recipe and it can be changed up with a different crust or different toppings.
the lemon curd tart had great flavor, but the filling (curd) was too loose. May be because I used jumbo eggs (4 jumbo and 1 regular) and I did use 1 1/4 sticks of butter. I read reviews which said 1 1/2 butter made it too oily. I baked it twice as long and I saw the oil and a little separation in the curd. Will try with large eggs and 1 stick of butter to see if I get a better result. Definitely need to increase the cooking time.
Flavor: 10; consistency: 5. I have made this many times before and reviewed it too! It is always delicious but…in the past I have noticed that I have to bake the curd much, much longer than directed and this was the case today also. But today I also had the disappointment of the crust shrinking way below the boarder of the tart pan. Plus, I placed tart pan on a cookie sheet before putting it in oven just for ease of transport and not only did I have extreme difficulty getting the thing to set, even with extended baking time by about 20 minutes, but I noticed that the cookie sheet contained an oily mess after baking. It tasted neither of butter, nor lemon, so I am baffled. Maybe the cooke sheet was a bad idea. I am sure it will still be delicious and next time I will take advice from below, chilling the filled tart pan and reducing the amount of butter. FYI, i never use the blueberry topping but either serve it as is or with a cardamom and sugar glazed pistachio top with a Mediterranean entry. Either way, I add fresh whipped cream.
super easy,nailed it from the first time & the filling was just perfect.
made it in the form of mini tartlets….took it with me to work and it was a hit,everyone loved it and loved the crust so much 🙂
made it in the form of mini tartlets….took it with me to work and it was a hit,everyone loved it and loved the crust so much 🙂
Very lovely and tasty tart, which I made as printed. However, I do have to agree with a couple others here that the butter in the curd itself needs to be reduced. 1 stick should be more than sufficient for that amount of juice and eggs. I found the curd had an oily mouth feel, which I attributed to way too much butter. I research many other curd recipes online and none had that much butter–usually 6T or 1 stick. I will make this again because it tastes absolutely lovely and I froze my additional Meyer lemon juice and zest for when they’re not in season and so plentiful/cheap.
Beautiful tart in flavor, texture, and appearance. Definite keeper!