Bakery-style Lemon Tarts made right at home. Individual shortcrust tart shells, filled with this perfect lemon curd recipe. Smooth, luscious, and the right sweet and tart balance.
This easy lemon curd tart recipe is a great fancy little dessert. Bonus, you can make the components ahead of time. Perfect for parties.
Are you a lemon dessert lover? Lemon Polenta Cake is one of my favourites. Simple to make, and presentation perfect.
I can eat lemon curd by the spoonful. Have you tried using it to make a lemon parfait? The perfect summer dessert for patio parties.
There is even a hint of lemon in this fun no-churn Easter ice cream.
I just had to squeeze out one more delicious lemon dessert just in time for spring. However, I will be serving these lemon tartlets all summer long (probably all year long). They will be the perfect dessert for our first bbq party of the summer.
RECIPE and INSTRUCTIONS for these lemon curd tartlets can be found at the bottom of this post.
If you love bakery-quality tarts, you are in luck. I will show you how easy it is to make them right at home.
The perfect dessert to take to a potluck. Everything can be made ahead of time. You can fill the tarts just before serving.
Shortcrust For Tart Shells
These are super easy to make. Flaky, tender, and light. Be sure to read the suggestions/recipe tips in case you are not into making your own pastry.
- It only takes 4 ingredients, flour, salt, butter, and water. This really is super easy to make. See the recipe card for all the detailed instructions.
- Made using a food processor or by hand the old-fashioned way.
- Let the pastry chill before rolling.
- Once the pastry is ready, roll it out to about ⅛ inch thickness.
- Use a round cooking cutter to cut out the discs.
- Place in tart tins.
- Fill with some pie weights and blind bake until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Easy Lemon Tarts With Lemon Curd
Grab your favourite jar of lemon curd. It really does make the most delicious tart filling.
- Fill the cooled tart shells with as much curd filling as you like.
- Garnish with some fresh berries.
- ENJOY!
Who would have thought making lemon tarts from a jar of lemon curd would be so easy and so delicious. Bakery perfection right here.
Suggestion/Recipe Tips
Lemon Curd – Use homemade or store-bought. Fill the tarts as much as you like. You can also use any fruit curd you like.
Shortcrust – So easy to make. If you are not into making pastry, store-bought frozen tart shells will work for this recipe. Blind bake according to package directions.
Cookie Cutters – The size of the cookie cutter is determined by the size of the tart pan.
Pie Weights – I lined the shells with discs of parchment and used pie weights. Rice, lentils, or dry beans make great alternatives.
Tart Tin – For this recipe, I used a 4 tartlet pan. You can also use a standard muffin tin for smaller tarts. Use this affiliate link to find the perfect tart pan.
Garnish – Fresh berries work great. Strawberries, blueberries, or raspberries.
Storage – Always store extra tarts in the fridge until ready to serve.
Make-Ahead Prep – The tart shells can be baked ahead of time. They will keep for 2-3 days in a sealed container. Homemade curd will last for at least a week in a jar kept in the fridge. Store-bought curd has a long shelf life.
CLICK THE SUBSCRIBE BUTTON located in the TOP MENU. You will get recipes delivered to your inbox ONCE A WEEK.
Tart And Pastry FAQ
Yes since these are filled, the pastry needs to be baked first.
Absolutely. The pastry dough will last for several days wrapped in the fridge. You can also freeze it for several months. Thaw in the fridge before using.
Sweet pastry uses room temperature butter that is creamed with the sugar, flour, and eggs. Shortcrust uses cold butter and is only combined enough to form a sand-like consistency.
They are very similar. Curd usually has a stronger lemony taste.
Looking for more citrus recipes? Here are a few to try:
Be sure to look at all the dessert recipes on my site too.
Lemon Curd Tarts
Ingredients
For The Tarts:
- 1 cup lemon curd (homemade or store bought)
- fresh berries (for garnish)
For The Shortcrust:
- 1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter (cold, cubed)
- 2 tablespoons ice cold water
Instructions
Make The Shortcrust Pastry:
- Using a food processor, pulse flour and salt. ***See notes for hand mixing***1 ¼ cups all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon salt
- Add cubed butter and pulse until it resembles large flake oatmeal. You should still see chunks of butter.½ cup unsalted butter
- Add the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time. Pulse until the dough looks like sand. Do not overwork the dough.2 tablespoons ice cold water
- Remove dough from food processor. Knead slightly, form into a disc, wrap in plastic and chill for at least an hour.
To Make The Tart Shells:
- Preheat oven to 325ºF
- Remove pastry from fridge.
- Dust work surface with flour. Unwrap dough and place on your floured work area. Sprinkle the top with a bit of flour
- Using a rolling pin, roll the disc out to about ⅛ inch thick.
- Using a round cookie cutter, cut out circles.
- Place circles in tart tin.
Blind Bake The Shells:
- Line the shells with parchment paper and add some pie weights.
- Bake for about 15 minutes.
- Remove the tin from oven, carefully remove paper and weights. Return to the oven for additional 5 minutes until light golden brown.
- Remove from oven and let cool before removing from tin.
Filling The Tarts:
- In each shell add 2-3 tablespoons of lemon curd. Here is a great recipe for lemon curd.1 cup lemon curd
- Garnish with a few berries.fresh berries
- Serve.
Nutrition Information
Notes
- combine flour and salt in a large bowl.
- add the cubed cold butter and rub it together with fingers or a pastry cutter until it resembles large pieces of sand.
- add the cold ice water a tablespoon at a time until the dough just sticks together.
- proceed with the wrapping and chilling as directed in the recipe.
Raksha Kamat
Would love to make these lemon curd tart for parties specially when there are many kids. I loved how nicely you have explained this post and the step by step pictures helps to a great extent. Thanks 🙂
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
You are very welcome. Hope you give these lemon curd tarts a try.
Bernice
I’ve always just wanted to make curd and keep it in the fridge for a treat. I didn’t know it would last a week, so that’s great news! I must give your recipe a try because it looks very rich and silky.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Well technically it will last that long, but it never does here LOL!
Megan
I love these tarts so much. I added some berries and served them up to the family this weekend. Everyone wanted the recipe.
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
These tarts with lemon curd will be making an appearance at Easter dinner.
Suja md
This looks really delicious and fairly simple to make! Can’t wait to try it out! thanks for the recipe 🙂
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
These lemon filled tarts are both easy to make and so delicious. Hope you give them a try.
Andrea
Love how simple this recipe is. Making a lemon tart from home is something I’ve always wanted to do. This is such a great recipe for Easter!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Homemade lemon curd is so easy to make, and makes the best tart filling ever. Give it a try. I know you will love them.
Sharon Chen
Oh my, these tarts look so delicious and lovely! I can’t wait to try this recipe 🙂
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I have a hard time not eating the lemon curd off the spoon.
Holley
I LOVE lemon and this recipe sure is delicious! Sweet and savory is the perfect combination!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I agree, and these lemon curd tarts deliver on taste and easy to make too.
Beth
This one is a real winner! It’s not often that you find something rustic and homemade that’s also this easy to make!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I totally agree. These lemon curd tarts are bakery quality made right at hoome.
Allyssa
This tasted so amazing! Thanks a lot for sharing this super easy to make lemon curd tarts recipe! Fam really loves it! Will surely have this again! Highly recommended!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I know these lemon tarts with curd filling are on our Easter menu.
Cami
Thanks for sharing this recipe! It is so easy to make!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
You gotta love easy dessert recipes that taste so delicious. ENJOY!
Sunrita
Love this recipe with such simple ingredients. So delicious. Never thought could make lemon tart at home. Thanks
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
OMG homemade lemon curd is the best…and makes the best tart filling as you can see.
Linda
I have a love/hate relationship with shortcrust, but this recipe actually worked for me! I used a muffin tin for bite size tarts and it was perfect. Love a good semi-homemade recipe!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I used to hate making pastry until I discovered shortcrust. Now it is my go-to all the time.
Kayla DiMaggio
These lemon tarts were so delicious! I love Spring and the bountiful lemons! Such a great dessert!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
I agree, these lemon tarts are so delicious and super easy to make.
Maya
These are so cute and perfect for a tea party. I have a few different mini tart pans I’ve been wanting to use so I think I’ll try out these tarts in my tart tins!
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
These lemon curd tarts are perfect in any size you like.
Jerika
I love tarts!:) What I like about this lemon curd tart recipe is easy to prepare and follow.:) YUM! Plus I can put my favorite fruit on top of it. Thanks!:)
Gloria Duggan | Homemade & Yummy
Yes totally…tarts are delicious. These lemon tarts are bakery quality made right at home.