Lemon Tartlets

Buttery pastry and sweet lemon curd combine in these perfectly portioned Lemon Tartlets to create the most amazing Spring and Summer treats. This one is undoubtedly the most yummy Tartlets Recipe ever!!

If you love Summer time Desserts, you will flip for these Lemon Curd filled Cookies. Also try this Lemon Coconut Cake next! You are sure to like this Lemon Blueberry Muffins Recipe as well!

Is there anything better than a homemade pastry made from scratch? A pastry that nestles creamy tangy and sweet lemon curd? Top it with whipped cream flowers and there you have an amazing sunshine dessert. What's not to love!

This is personally one of my favorite Classic French Desserts. I am sure you will adore these bite sized treats too. 

Now there are two parts to todays recipe. Making the pastry dough and preparing the lemon curd. Fret not. If you think you are pressed on time you can easily use store bought mini pastry tarts. Homemade Lemon curd can be swapped with store bought curd too.

No matter which route you take, these tarts will be an instant hit at your Holiday parties, Gatherings or when you make them just for yourself. 

Ingredients Required:

FOR THE PASTRY DOUGH:

• Very Cold Butter: Cut your butter into cubes and place them in the freezer for sometime. Yes you need the butter to be very cold before you add it to the flour.
• Flour: We will use all purpose flour as the base of our pastry here.
• Sugar and some Salt: We will use confectioners' sugar for this pastry as opposed to granulated sugar and a dash of salt.
• One Egg: This will be used to bind the dough. You will need the egg to be at room temperature.
• Pure Vanilla Extract: I always like to add a splash of vanilla to my pastry dough and I suggest you do it too.
• Zest of a lemon: Now this is an optional ingredient that you can add if you want to boost the lemon flavor of your final product.

AND A DOUBLE BATCH OF MY HOMEMADE MICROWAVE LEMON CURD (Linked in the recipe card below)

For the Flowers Decoration:

I have used whipped cream to create these flowers. This step is totally optional. But it is very easy to make them. If you still decide to not pipe flowers, you can opt for topping these tarts will a dallop of cream. Since lemon and cream pair so well together.

How to make Mini Lemon Tarts:

Pastry dough can be made in a food processor or just with hands using a fork. Opt for which ever way is more convenient for you.

The idea is to cut butter into the flour till very fine crumbs are formed. Then you mix the egg in and combine till a dough is formed.

We then divide the dough into balls and individually place them into tartlet mold and spread till whole mold is covered with dough.

Alternatively, you can roll the dough out and cut it into circles. Then spread and press them in molds. Prick holes in the unbaked pastry using a fork or toothpick. Refrigerate or freeze it quickly for sometime and then bake.

For the Lemon Curd: I have used my microwave Lemon Curd recipe here. This recipe makes around 12 tartlets. So you will need to double this recipe for lemon curd to be sufficient for 12 shells.

You could use the one made on stove top or store bought curd can be substituted in a pinch here.

QUICK NOTE: Both tartlets and lemon curd can be made ahead of time. You can then assemble them a few hours before you are ready to serve.

Pro tips for perfect tarts every time:

No Tart Molds? No Problem. You can bake tartlets in a regular muffin pan or even a mini pan to create lemon tart bites. Simply roll the dough and cut it using a large round or fluted cookie cutter.

Then place your discs into muffin pan and set them there using your thumb. Run and press lightly your thumb on the base and around the edges of the disc to set disc into muffin pan hole.

This will get rid of any air bubbles underneath the disc. Poke holes, chill them and bake.

Cook the Lemon Curd Well: Make sure the curd that you cook to make lemon tarts isn't runny. If the curd is runny, it will ooze out when you bite into tartlets.

Storing Pre made pastry crust and Lemon Curd: These both can be made ahead at stored for 2 days easily. Store baked pastry crust on room temperature and lemon curd in the refrigerator.

Re-heat curd before pouring into pastry crust: This little step ensures even setting of the curd.

Let the tartlets set in the refrigerator for a few hours which will in turn allow the lemon curd to set before piping whipped cream flowers over them.

Frequently asked questions:

Can you freeze homemade lemon tarts?

Though you can freeze lemon tarts, but I wouldn't recommend that. Instead freeze baked or unbaked tarts separately. Freezing filled tarts or lemon curd isn't that great of an idea. Since the filling can make the tarts soggy as they thaw.

What are Tartlets made of?

Crust of the tartlets is made of flour, egg, sugar, salt and cold butter. Then there are various fillings to choose from. You can make orange curd or lime curd instead of lemon. Also caramel or chocolate filling can be poured into tartlets instead of lemon.

If you liked this recipe, give it a star review! Also, tell me in the comments below, how did it turn out for you! How did your family or guests like it? How did you personalize it?

And don’t forget to share your wonderful creations with me on Instagram at #greedyeatsblog Let's be friends on Pinterest and Facebook too!

Recipe

Lemon Tartlets

Buttery pastry and sweet lemon curd combine in these perfectly portioned Lemon Tartlets to create perfect Spring and Summer treats.

5 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, French

US Customary - Metric

Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Chilling Time: 3 hours hours

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings 12 Tartlets

1x2x3x

Calories: 178kcal

Author: Neha

Equipment

• 1 Food Processor
• Tartlet Molds

Ingredients

• ▢ 2 Cups All purpose flour
• ▢ 6 Tablespoons Confectioners' Sugar
• ▢ a Pinch of Salt
• ▢ ½ Cup Unsalted Butter (cold and cubed)
• ▢ 1 large Egg (at room temperature)
• ▢ 1 Teaspoon Pure vanilla extract

For Filling:

• ▢ Double Batch of Lemon Curd Recipe

To Pipe and Decorate:

• ▢ ¾ Cup Whipping Cream
• ▢ 2 Tablespoon Lemon Curd (to create the center of flowers)
• ▢ ¼ Cup Confectioners Sugar (for dusting on top)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Place flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of your food processor and pulse it to combine. Now add cold and cubed butter to the bowl and pulse till you get very fine crumbs.

  Pro Tip: You can also make the dough with your hands by cutting butter into flour using a fork or with a pastry blender.
• Next, quickly whisk an egg in a separate bowl and mix in the flour mixture. Pulse only till the dough starts to come together. Take care not to overmix the dough here.
• Bring the dough into a ball and them portion it into 12 individual balls. Now Chill the balls in freezer for 15-20 minutes. You can also place them in refrigerator to firm up for an hour if you wish.
• Now place a ball in the tartlet mold and hold the mold in your hand. Start pressing it gently using the thumb of your other hand till the dough evenly spreads and sticks in the mold.

  Chill the pastries in the freezer until very firm to touch. If you aren't pressed on time, you can chill them in refrigerator for a few hours.
• Prick holes in the pastries with the help of a fork or toothpick. Preheat oven to 320 ℉/160℃. Freeze pastries as the oven preheats.
• Bake for 25-27 minutes or till the pastries get golden and feel dry to touch. Allow them to cool down completely before demolding and filling.

Assembling the Tartlets:

• Pour warm Lemon Curd in the Pastries. Gently tap each pastry against counter to get rid of any air bubbles. Set them in the refrigerator to get firm before topping them whipped cream flowers.

Piping the Flowers:

• Add whipping cream into a bowl and whip until soft peaks are formed, using a hand held beater. You can also add 2-3 tablespoons of sugar here if you like the whipped cream sweet. A hint of vanilla extract can be used here too.
• Pour this whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with a small round tip nozzle. Pipe on some bulbs in a circular pattern to create white flowers.

  Pour lemon curd into a piping bag and snip the tip off. Now pipe lemon curd into the middle to finish the flower off.
• Pipe cream on tartlets only when you are ready to serve. We don't want heavy cream to be melting on top of the filling. Serve with a dusting of icing sugar and enjoy

Notes

Storing and Freezing Instructions:

Baked pastry crusts will stay good at rom temperature for 2 days. You can also pre-make lemon curd and store it in refrigerator for up to 3 days. 

I don't recommend freezing filled pastries. Now freezing lemon curd is a great idea. You can freeze unbaked pastry dough for 2 months though. Thaw for a few hours or preferably overnight in refrigerator before placing in tart molds.

Pouring stored Lemon Curd into Pastries: Heat up cold lemon curd a bit before pouring them in tartlets crusts. Heating the curd will ensure even setting. Don't heat it up too much or you run the risk of curdling the lemon curd.

Don't overwork your pastry dough:

Stop the food processor when you notice the pastry coming together. To check, when you press crumbs of pastry in between your finger and thumb and stick together, the pastry is ready. If you notice that the pastry is too dry, add a little bit of very cold water. Like one-two teaspoons at a time.

Pastry dough has gone too sticky?

If you find the pastry to be too sticky very sticky, add a little bit more flour.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Tartlet | Calories: 178kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 9g | Sodium: 14mg | Sugar: 6g

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