Meyer Lemon Tart
A floral lemon tart with a perfect velvety texture, and a delicate, sweet crust.
This is Wanda's favorite dessert, so I make it often.
Meyer lemons are a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. They grow very well here in San Francisco, better than normal lemons, so they're a common feature in backyards. We don't have a tree ourselves, but a few of our neighbors do, so I tend to have a pretty steady supply.
Because of that mandarin orange influence, the Meyer lemon is a bit sweeter than a standard lemon. This sounds delightful! But beware: the tartness of a lemon is also its strength, and the Meyer lemon is, frankly, weak. As I mentioned in my post about getting big orange flavor in your baking, orange juice is wimpy—it's the zest you want.
You're best off if you remember to treat the Meyer lemon as the hybrid of lemon and orange that it is. I do this by focusing on using the zest, and while I do use the juice, I almost always combine it with some conventional lemon juice as well. The flavor of Meyer lemon juice is sometimes too soft on its own.
But the zest! Oh my goodness, the zest. The zest is the reason people go gaga for Meyer lemons. You need to smell it for yourself, it is divine. It's not like a lemon or an orange, it's something else entirely. It's floral, almost like an orange blossom scent.
This tart is my favorite thing to do with Meyer lemons. I can't tell you how many lemons you'll need, I'm afraid, because the size is so variable, especially the ones I'm using that aren't grown commercially. I'd plan on having at least 4 medium-sized Meyer lemons to be safe, plus a couple of conventional lemons, for their juice only. (I tend to overbuy my citrus because I've been stung too many times by being short.)
This recipe is a variation of the Tarte au Citron recipe found in Pascal Rigo's book, The American Boulangerie. When Rich and I lived in the Cole Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, we were regulars at his bakery, La Boulange. It's where Rich proposed to me! A delicate slice of lemon tart from La Boulange always felt like a cherished little present. The book is now out of print, but it's worth picking up used if you'd like to try to be your own French bakery.
This recipe makes one tart, in either a 9.5" round tart pan or a rectangular 14" x 4.5" pan. My pictures here show two, because I doubled the recipe to make two tarts at once.
You'll need one prebaked tart shell—one of these days I'll write up my instructions for making a tart shell and blind baking it, but that day is not today. For now, there are plenty of recipes out there for pâte sucrée tart crusts, take your pick.
I've found that the crust edges can become too brown, so I made foil edge covers for my tart pans out of heavy-duty aluminum foil. You may not need these, especially with a different crust recipe.
Meyer Lemon Tart
A floral lemon tart with a perfect velvety texture, and a delicate, sweet crust.
Print the recipeIngredients
- 1 prebaked shallow pâte sucrée tart shell, either 9” round or 14”x4.5” rectangular
- 4 eggs, at room temperature
- 200 g (1 cup) sugar
- 1 tbsp fresh Meyer lemon zest
- 5 tbsp fresh Meyer lemon juice
- 2 tbsp fresh standard lemon juice
- ½ cup plus 1 tbsp heavy cream
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°.
- Place the empty tart shell on a baking sheet. Use foil to create a cover for the crust edges of the tart (but not the center), to keep them from browning too much in the oven.
- Whisk the four eggs thoroughly in a medium saucepan.
- Add the sugar, zest, both lemon juices, cream, and salt to the saucepan, and whisk together.
- Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent scorching, until the custard is slightly thickened, about 10-15 minutes. Don’t let the custard bubble or it will curdle; keep the heat on the low side of medium. You’ll know it’s done when the custard clings evenly to the back of the spoon, and when wiping a finger across the back of the spoon leaves a clean trail.
- Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl, to remove the tiny bits of egg solids and zest.
- Pour the custard into the tart shell and smooth the surface. Put the foil cover in place if it isn’t already.
- Bake at 325° for 25 to 35 minutes, until just set. Check to see if it’s ready by gently jostling the baking sheet: the edges should be set, but the center should jiggle a little bit, like Jell-O.
- Cool the pan on a wire rack, then move the pan to the refrigerator to set for at least two more hours. Be careful moving the tart pan! Remember to hold it so you aren’t pushing upward on the removable bottom.
- Before serving, remove the tart entirely from the pan, and move it to a serving platter.
- Keep the tart in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
- You can make the custard in advance and store it in the fridge for up to 5 days. Cover the custard with plastic wrap pressed right to the surface of the custard, to prevent a skin from forming. Let it come closer back to room temperature before you fill the tart shell.
- If you only have conventional lemons, go ahead and use the zest from those, and drop the total amount of lemon juice to 6 tbsp.