French Lemon Tart with Pâte Sucrée Crust (Tarte au Citron)

lemon tart on square piece of parchment paper with slice cut into tart with meringue cookies and flowers on top, with lemons and white flowers around.

French Lemon Tart with Pâte Sucrée Crust (Tarte au Citron)

French Lemon Tart with Pâte Sucrée Crust...aka Tarte au Citron! This is the perfect dessert to make any time of year for any and every occasion. Bonus? It's actually so much easier to make than you might think!

Course: Desserts

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 25

Cook Time: 50

Refrigeration Time: 3

Total Time: 4 15

Servings: slices

Calories: 338kcal

Ingredients

Tart Shell

1½ cups all purpose flour
⅔ cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon baking powder
3½ teaspoons lemon zest
7½ Tablespoons salted butter cold, sliced
1 large egg room temperature
1¼ teaspoons vanilla extract

Filling

4½ Tablespoons corn starch
6 Tablespoons granulated sugar
6 large egg yolks room temperature
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
4 Tablespoons salted butter sliced, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon lemon zest

Instructions

Tart Crust

Heat oven to 350℉ (175℃).
Spray a 9-inch tart ring with cooking spray. Set aside.
In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a dough blade, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and lemon zest.
Pulse to mix.
Add butter, a few slices at a time, pulsing after each addition.
Add egg and vanilla.
Pulse until it forms a smooth dough.
Turn out onto lightly floured parchment paper.
Roll into a round that is ¼-inch thick.
Transfer dough to prepared pan.
Press to remove air bubbles and to ensure dough is fitted all the way to the edges.
Cut excess dough away from top.
Place a sheet of parchment paper in crust.
Fill with pie weights, making sure they are spread evenly.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven.
Carefully remove parchment paper and pie weights.
Return to oven.
Bake an additional 10-15 minutes, until crust is lightly browned.
Set aside to cool.

Filling

In a medium bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 6 Tablespoons sugar.
Add egg yolks.
Whisk until smooth. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine milk, cream, and 2 Tablespoons sugar.
Heat and stir over medium heat until mixture starts to bubble around the edges.
Remove from heat.
Whisk hot milk mixture into egg yolk mixture, a little at a time.
Return custard to saucepan.
Cook and stir, using a whisk, over medium low heat until thickened and holding its shape.
Remove from heat.
Whisk in butter.
Stir in vanilla and zest.
Spoon into cooled crust.
Level filling with an offset spatula.
Refrigerate 2-3 hours, or until set.

Notes

Expert Tips:

Make sure your tart pan has a removable bottom.
Be careful to not over-work the dough! Pulse until the mixture comes together. Nothing more! The less you work your dough, the more tender it will be.
Don't skip lining your tart with parchment before adding the pie weights! This is essential, as you need to be able to remove the pie weights.
Make sure the pie weights are completely level and covering the bottom of the tart. This helps ensure nothing rises more than it needs to.
The crust doesn’t need to be overly browned. Just lightly browned. Keep an eye on it!
When making the filling and it begins to thicken, don’t panic! Let it keep cooking for 2 minutes afterwards. It should be very thick before stirring in the butter.
Make sure you get all the butter incorporated before adding the lemon zest and vanilla!
If desired, any citrus can be used for this recipe.

Nutrition