A whole lemon tart recipe even beginner bakers can master
If I had to choose one dessert to eat for the rest of my life, it would be a lemon tart, hands down. I’ve eaten my fair share of them and whenever a new pastry shop opens up, a lemon tart (along with a flaky croissant) is the litmus test that will determine if I’ll return.
I love the brightness a good lemon tart delivers. It’s my go-to birthday dessert, which I make myself partly because I enjoy the process and partly because I’m persnickety about how I like it — with a buttery cookie-like crust and a boldly tart filling with little flecks of lemon rind.
I revel in the minimalist elegance of this simple dessert: To me, the most beautiful lemon tart is one that’s barely dusted with confectioners’ sugar. Whipped cream or meringue dulls its bracing acidity, which is the whole point of this pastry.
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And even though I believe that lemon tarts are a year-round dessert, at no time are they more welcome than midwinter, when the new year starts to feel lived-in, the resolutions have come and gone (attempting Dry January after the mob stormed the U.S. Capitol proved ineffective) and the charm of colder weather and brown comfort food wears off.
Although I've made many kinds of lemon tarts through the years, it took this assignment to arrive at my favorite version.
I knew I wanted to crack the code on using a whole lemon, similar to one I’ve made for more than a decade based on Dorie Greenspan’s recipe in “Paris Sweets.” Instead of making lemon curd, you add the whole fruit (minus the seeds) and puree it with other filling ingredients. The tiny bits of lemon rind suspended in a smooth emulsion and the subtle bitterness imparted by the pith give the filling dimension and keep it from getting cloying.
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Still, I knew I could improve on near-perfection. First, I tackled the crust, a fairly traditional pâte sucrée, which has a buttery cookie-like snap. I scaled back the sugar and found it still retained a desired crispness. A tablespoon of lemon zest gave the crust bright flavor, and a whole egg, rather than just a yolk, created a sturdier texture for easier rolling out. And, as I contemplated the sticky dough that stuck to even a well-floured counter, I decided that rolling it out between two pieces of parchment made for a less frustrating experience.
In approaching the filling, though I loved the simplicity of pureeing the whole lemon with butter, sugar and eggs, I wanted a more unabashedly lemony flavor. I found it in the same lemon that gave up its zest to the crust. Adding that second lemon to the filling ingredients delivered precisely the bright pucker I longed for.
My laziness served up a timesaving simplification when I decided to see what would happen if I threw cubed, cold butter into the food processor (the original recipe calls for the butter to be melted). The mixture came out curdled, which worried me, but I poured it into the crust and baked the tart anyway. The resulting texture was identical to the one made with melted butter. In my final test, as I grew bolder and lazier still, I cut the butter into four pieces and it pureed just the same.
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You can certainly argue that the easiest lemon tart is the one you buy at a bakery, but I implore you to try this one. It may look like a fancy French dessert, but it’s blissfully forgiving and demands little baking proficiency.
It’s rare that less effort delivers a better outcome, but this tart is proof-positive such a thing exists. Try it — and see for yourself.
Make Ahead: The tart dough can be made, tightly wrapped and refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 3 months. If freezing, wrap in foil after wrapping in plastic to prevent freezer burn. The tart shell can be par-baked up to 12 hours in advance.
Storage Notes: The lemon tart can be stored at a cool room temperature for up to 1 day or covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.
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