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A close up image of a lemon curd tart with pink circles on top and toasted meringue dollops.
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Lemon Tart

A delicious lemon curd tart with a layer of white chocolate strawberry filling all topped with toasted meringue dollops. 
Course Dessert
Cuisine english, French
Prep Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings 6 tarts
Calories 453kcal
Author John Kanell

Ingredients

For the Tart Shell:

  • 160 g confectioners sugar
  • 6 Egg Yolks
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste 5mL or extract
  • 1 lb all-purpose flour 450g
  • 1 cup unsalted butter 226g cold
  • ¼ tsp salt 1g heaping

For the Strawberry Chocolate:

  • 1/2 cup white chocolate
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp strawberry powder

For the Lemon Curd:

  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup corn starch
  • 1 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter cold

For the Swiss Meringue:

  • 5 egg whites at room temperature
  • 1 ½ cups granulated sugar 300g
  • 1 pinch kosher salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract 5mL

Instructions

For the Tart Shell

  • Add the icing sugar, butter, vanilla & salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. 
  • Beat the mixture on a medium speed for a few minutes until it forms a paste. Scrape down the bowl halfway through.
  • Slowly add in the flour, and mix on low speed until it is just combined. The mixture will look crumbly. Don't worry as it will come together when rolled and rested.
  • Transfer the mixture on a lightly floured surface. You will want to divide the dough into 2 batches to make rolling out easier.
  • Place a large piece of parchment paper down, lightly flour it, and place one batch of dough on top. Sprinkle the dough lightly with flour and place another large piece of parchment paper over the top
  • Roll the dough out with a rolling pin to 3mm (1/8 inch). I have a rolling pin with training wheels on the side that tells me exactly what 3mm is but you can eyeball it. 3mm is two pennies thick.
  • Place the whole sheet of pastry in the fridge for 30 minutes. Repeat the above steps with the second batch of dough if divided.
  • Once the dough has chilled, remove one sheet from the fridge. Peel off the top sheet of parchment paper, very lightly flour the pastry, then flip it over.
  • Peel off the remaining sheet of parchment paper, lightly flour the dough again to prevent it from sticking. 
  • Cut out the dough using a 5.75" oval perforated tart ring. Peel off the excess dough and you can re-roll this for another use. You can use different dimensions if you have different tart forms.
  • Remove the second sheet of dough from fridge. Using a sharp knife, cut long strips of dough about 7-8” long and ¾” wide.
  • Carefully lift the strips and place them on the inside of the tart rings. Press them against the side so they line up with the dough at the bottom.
  • Press the bottom of the dough gently with your fingers to mold it to the base of the dough.
  • Cut off any excess pastry hanging over the top of the tart rings with a sharp knife.
  • Place the tart shells into the freezer for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
  • Pre-heat your oven to 320F. Place the tray with your tart shells in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes or until the shell is lightly golden.
  • Remove tart shells from the oven and allow time to cool before piping so the filling does not melt.

For the Strawberry Chocolate:

  • To make the strawberry powder I crushed dehydrated strawberries in a plastic bag then sifted the powder and measured out a tablespoon.
  • Heat up the heavy cream over medium heat until it’s just about to boil. While the cream is heating chop your white chocolate into small pieces. 
  • Immediately pour the heavy cream over the white chocolate in a bowl. Let stand for about 2 minutes.
  • Add the strawberry powder and whisk until smooth. 
  • Transfer to a piping bag. You will snip the tip off just before assembling.  

For the Lemon Curd:

  • Strain egg yolks into a bowl and beat lightly with a wire whisk.
  • Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is thickened and a light lemon color. Whisk in lemon juice and sift cornstarch in and whisk in as well. Transfer mixture to a pot.
  • Heat on medium-low, while stirring constantly with a wire whisk until mixture coats back of wooden spoon or 168F on a candy thermometer. Do not boil the mixture.
  • Turn off the heat, add in cold, cubed butter and whisk until melted. Transfer to a bowl, cover in plastic and let cool completely
  • Transfer to a piping bag and snip off the tip.

For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

  • Add egg whites, sugar and salt in a bowl. Give the mixture a brief whisk.
  • Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water. Making sure the water does not touch the bowl.

 Whisk the egg whites occasionally while it warms up. When the mixture has warmed, whisk it constantly.
  • Heat the mixture until it reaches an internal temperature of 160ºF or until it's very warm and not grainy between your fingers. 

Transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. Whisk until you get room temperature glossy peaks.

For the Assembly:

  • Once your tart has cooled, pipe in the bottom layer of white chocolate.
  • Pipe on the top layer of lemon curd.
  • Transfer the Swiss meringue to a piping bag with a 32 tip and pipe the dollops on top.
  • Lightly toast the dollops of Swiss meringue using a blow torch.
  • Melt the candy melts and smear a layer onto parchment paper.
  • Sift strawberry powder over the candy melt and allow a few minutes to chill.
  • Cut out different sized small circles of the candy melt using a round piping tips or circle cutters.
  • Carefully lift up with a spatula and place them on the tarts.

Video

Notes

  • For some extra intensity try adding the the zest or one or two lemons to a food processor along with the sugar. Pulse until the zest is in fine pieces and incorporated.
  • Make sure to freeze the tart shells completely before baking.
  • The best bake will be achieved with a perforated silicone mat and a perforated tart ring.
  • You can make the decorative circles from white chocolate but tempering it is a real pain! Candy melts will be nearly foolproof.
  • You can use a French meringue for the dollops instead of the Swiss. It's faster and I doubt anyone will know the difference.

Nutrition

Serving: 1tart | Calories: 453kcal | Carbohydrates: 72g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 106mg | Sodium: 171mg | Potassium: 81mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 41g | Vitamin A: 600IU | Vitamin C: 4.1mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1.6mg