Tarte au Citron
Crisp pastry shell filled with sharp lemon curd.
Discover smart recipes
Sign up on Homecooked to cook this recipe as the chef intended, with parallel steps and built-in timers guiding you along the way. Stock your pantry to discover more recipes you can cook with the ingredients you have at home.
Join HomecookedIngredients
- 250 g All-purpose flour
- 200 g Butter
- 200 g Sugar
- 5 Egg
- 4 Lemon
- ¼ tsp Salt
Method
- Rub the flour, half the butter, and a little sugar into a pastry and chill 30 minutes.
- Line a tin with the pastry, prick the base, weigh it down with baking parchment and dried beans, and bake until the shell is golden and crisp.
- Cook the eggs, sugar, lemon, and remaining butter into a thick lemon curd.
- Pour the curd into the shell and chill until set, at least 3 hours.
- Slice and serve cold.
Nutrition per serving
Estimated from ingredients; varies with exact portions and brands.
About Tarte au Citron
Tarte au citron is the classic French lemon tart: a crisp shortcrust shell filled with a smooth, intensely tart lemon curd and served cold in clean slices. It belongs to the patisserie tradition, where the contrast between a sturdy pastry base and a bright, custardy filling is the whole point. This is bracingly sharp rather than sweet, the lemon meant to cut through a rich meal, which is why it reads as elegant instead of cloying. The blind-baking here, with parchment and dried beans weighing the base, is the step that guarantees the shell stays crisp under the wet filling.
The eating experience is all about the tension between textures and flavors: the buttery, sandy snap of the pastry giving way to a dense, silky curd that hits sour first, then rounds into richness from the butter and eggs cooked into it. It's a dessert that rewards patience, since the tart needs at least a few hours chilled to set fully before it slices cleanly. Serve it plain, or with a little crème fraîche to soften the acidity, at the end of a long dinner. A dusting of sugar or a scattering of berries is welcome but never necessary.
Tarte au Citron: frequently asked questions
How many calories are in Tarte au Citron?
One serving of Tarte au Citron has about 441 calories, with 8g of protein, 50g of carbs, 24g of fat and 0g of fiber. These are estimates based on the ingredient amounts in this recipe and will vary with your exact portions and brands.
Is Tarte au Citron gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains All-purpose flour. You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for that ingredient to make it gluten-free.
Is Tarte au Citron dairy-free?
Not as written — it uses Butter. Swapping it for a plant-based alternative makes it dairy-free.
How long does Tarte au Citron take to make?
About 80 minutes start to finish, but only around 10 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
How many servings does Tarte au Citron make?
This recipe makes 8 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.