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Summertime means get-togethers with family and friends, and what better way to impress your guests than with a dessert that is both beautiful and delicious? This from-scratch lemon meringue tart has a buttery vanilla shortbread crust, bright and creamy lemon filling, and beautiful Italian meringue. It's practically begging for center stage at your next party!
Moving to Virginia has inspired me so much to create beautiful things. My garden is growing so much, the grapes and figs are coming back which means we protected them over the winter (success!), and all the farmers' markets have the best produce coming. I fill up my basket with a quickness with all the goodies! In my neighborhood, though, I have neighbors with tons of citrus trees. Mandarins and lemons are plentiful!
This lemon meringue tart is perfect any time of the year, but it really is absolutely perfect to bring to a backyard barbecue or set on the Easter table. Just look at how beautiful she is!
A stunner? Yes. Easy to make? Also yes! The hardest part is the meringue, which is really just the stand mixer beating up egg whites for a while and making a simple sugar syrup.
Follow my instructions and you'll have a flawless, sweet and tart lemon meringue dessert, honey. Pinky swear.
Jump to:
- Origins of Lemon Desserts
- Difference between lemon meringue pie and lemon meringue tart
- Ingredients
- How to Make a Lemon Meringue Tart
- Difference between French, Italian, and Swiss Meringue
- Make Ahead Instructions
- Tips for the Best Lemon Tart
- Freezing and Thawing the Lemon Tart
- FAQs
- More Amazing Pie and Tart Recipes
- Tools I Used in this Recipe
- Lemon Meringue Tart
Origins of Lemon Desserts
The story of lemon meringue pie is pretty murky.
French fruit-and-meringue pies have been around since the 1700's, but the lemon variety was called 'lemon cream pie'. Does that truly count as lemon meringue?
Many say it's a modernized version of the English Chester Pudding, which has a very thin sliver of curd and a distinctly eggy taste.
Others say it was created by pastry cook Elizabeth Goodfellow, though her recipe is for 'lemon pudding' without a meringue topping.
Whatever the origins, lemon meringue desserts have been made for centuries and they're highly favored.
Difference between lemon meringue pie and lemon meringue tart
So what is the difference between a lemon meringue pie and a lemon meringue tart, anyway?
A Pie is a sweet or savory dish with a traditionally simple pie crust made of flour, salt, cold water, and cold fats, and a filling baked in a pie dish. The sides of the pan are sloped, not straight up and down or fluted like a tart pan.
A pie can have a just a bottom, a top, or both bottom and top crusts that are golden brown, flaky, and crisp. Pies are served straight from their dish.
A tart is a sweet or savory dish with shallow, straight sides and a bottom crust called a tart shell. A tart crust is usually made from pastry dough or sablé, for a firm, crumbly, cookie-like crust.
Tarts are baked in a tart pan with a removable bottom so they are served on servingware.
Ingredients
Fresh Lemons. Organic would be best, since we're using both lemon juice and lemon zest in this recipe.
Eggs. You'll use the egg yolks for your lemon curd filling, and use the egg whites for the meringue topping.
A lot of unsalted butter. Like, a lot. Go to Costco or something because there's butter in basically everything but the meringue.
All Purpose Flour.
Corn Starch. This helps thicken the curd so it sets perfectly as a filling rather than a classic lemon curd.
Granulated Sugar.
Vanilla Extract.
Kosher Salt.
Cream of Tartar. This ingredient helps stabilize egg whites, giving you high glossy peaks.
How to Make a Lemon Meringue Tart
Make the Buttery Crust
First make your sablé breton, which is a shortbread cookie-like base. It's really simple to make: in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a large mixing bowl with a handheld electric mixer, beat all the ingredients together until the dough is together, but very crumbly.
Press the dough into your tart pan evenly all around and up the sides. Cover the dough with parchment paper and pour on some pie weights, you're about to blind bake this baby.
What is Blind Baking? Blind baking a tart or pie shell means to bake them fully or halfway before adding the filling. The bottom is kept flattened out with pie weights (or dried beans in a pinch!) so the crust bakes without becoming poofy and the sides don't slouch down when the filling is poured in.
Blind baking is done when the filling isn't baked at all, like in this lemon meringue dessert. After this one blind baking session, that's all for the oven. It's why I love lemon meringue pies and tarts for the spring and summer! I'm not heating up my house for +/- an hour.
Blind baking is also done when the filling is made of custard (like in sweet potato pie), so the wet custard doesn't impede the pie crust from crisping up and becoming nice and flaky.
Let it cool before adding the curd.
Make your Homemade Lemon Curd
This is a great recipe for a smooth, delicious lemon curd filling. Super easy, smooth, and full of lemony flavor!
Whisk together the sugar and cornstarch, then add everything else for the curd except the butter and vanilla extract. Whisk until nice and thickened, then take off the heat and add the butter and vanilla.
For the best results, you can run the warm lemon curd through a fine mesh sieve to catch any overcooked egg yolk.
Now you pour all that pretty goodness into the blind-baked crust, smooth it out with the back of a spoon, and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap. Let it chill and set up in the fridge.
Making the perfect meringue
I prefer to make Italian meringue for this recipe; it's almost like eating marshmallow fluff, it's so good! You'll want a strong stand mixer for this.
To do this, make a sugar syrup in a medium saucepan. It's very much like making simple syrup, just water and sugar together, but with one twist. Don't get it on you, it's liquid candy: it'll burn like all hell and will stick like glue!
While it's cooking, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar on medium speed.
With an Italian meringue, you'll need a candy thermometer because the syrup will be poured into a stand mixer that is beating the egg whites to soft peaks in a heatproof bowl.
Pro Tip: While beating the eggs, adding the sugar too soon will cause them to never gain stiff peaks. You want to add the sugar after the 'foamy' stage, once the egg mixture starts looking like it has soft peaks (that fluffy white cloud texture). This means it's whipped up enough air into the egg whites to be able to hold the heaviness of the sugar.
Once the sugar syrup reaches 240 degrees F, take the pot to the stand mixer and carefully pour it into the whipping egg whites. Avoid the whisk attachment as much as possible, you don't want to splash the sugar around.
Once the syrup is incorporated, turn the speed to high and whip the meringue until the bowl feels cool, for about ten minutes. You'll want to use your good stand mixer for this!
Once the bowl feels cool, you'll notice the meringue being incredibly smooth, fluffy, glossy, and basically look and feel like marshmallow fluff.
Now...
Let's Assemble.
Put the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pull out the lemon dessert you've hidden from your family (because they'd have eaten it already if you didn't!), and begin piping the meringue all over the curd. You can cover the entire thing or just some of it, make a pattern or go ham sandwich on it, whatever you like to do.
You could forego the piping bag and just dollop it on and pile it high for the perfect lemon meringue pie without the 'lemon meringue pie' fuss. No chances of weeping, watery pie!
Now it's beautiful as is, but maybe you want to get those gorgeous golden brown peaks and swirls. Do we put it in the oven? NO!
Use a handy kitchen torch! It's easy to find, affordable, and really useful!
Give the meringue a little golden glow wherever you please with the torch and serve by removing the tart ring from the sides and sliding the tart off of the bottom and onto a cake stand.
Difference between French, Italian, and Swiss Meringue
People are familiar with the classic lemon meringue pie, but not as many know that there are actually three different types of meringue: French, Italian, and Swiss.
French meringue is made from a whipped mixture of egg whites and sugar that is cooked over a double boiler until thick and glossy.
Italian meringue is similar, but hot sugar syrup is whipped into the egg whites instead of granulated sugar. This results in a much stiffer meringue that holds its shape well, is more stable, and won't break down and weep.
Swiss meringue is made from egg whites and sugar that are whipped together over a double boiler until hot and glossy, then cooled to room temperature before being used.
So, what's the difference between these three types of meringue? French meringue is the lightest and sweetest of the three, making it ideal for dishes like soufflés. Italian meringue is denser and chewier, making it perfect for toppings on pies and tarts (like this one!). Swiss meringue is somewhere in between, making it a versatile option for both sweet and savory dishes.
Make Ahead Instructions
You can make everything the day before and store it in the fridge, but I suggest topping the lemon tart with the meringue just before serving.
Bring the tart out of the fridge an hour before serving to take the chill off. You can pipe the meringue on then.
Tips for the Best Lemon Tart
- Use fresh lemon juice for the filling - it makes a big difference!
- To get that perfect meringue topping, make sure your egg whites are at room temperature before you start whipping them.
- Don't be afraid to experiment with different types of meringue - each one will give your tart a unique flavor and texture
Freezing and Thawing the Lemon Tart
Do not freeze the tart with the meringue, it will ruin the texture of the meringue.
Chill the tart as per the recipe. Then wrap the tart in its pan in plastic wrap three times, pressing gently so there's no air in between the layers. Then wrap the tart in two layers of aluminum foil, pressing any air out again. Freeze the lemon tart for up to 1 month.
Thaw the lemon tart in the fridge overnight, then remove all the wrappings and place the tart in an airtight container. Decorate with your meringue before serving and eat the tart within 2 days.
FAQs
Yes! Press the tart shell dough into a greased muffin tin and dock with a fork, cover with parchment paper, add the pie weights, and bake for 20 minutes. Then continue the recipe as is. Makes 12 lemon meringue tartlets!
Yes, store the lemon meringue tart in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
My recipe for lemon meringue does NOT weep or get watery. Why? The meringue is a highly stabilized meringue that doesn't deflate or weep. We also aren't baking it, which if not done perfectly, can cause the lemon curd to become loose and watery and the meringue to degrade.
More Amazing Pie and Tart Recipes
Tools I Used in this Recipe
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Lemon Meringue Tart
Ingredients
Sable Breton
- 8 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
Lemon Curd Filling
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ½ cup cornstarch
- 3 egg yolks, room temperature
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 cup lemon juice
- Zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 12 tablespoon 1.5 sticks unsalted butter, cubed and ice cold
Italian Meringue
- 4 egg whites, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Instructions
- Sable Breton
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Prepare your tart pan by lightly greasing it or lining with parchment paper.
- In the bowl or a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter, granulated sugar, flour, kosher salt, and vanilla extract until it creates a homogenous, yet very crumbly dough.
- Using slightly dampened hands, press the dough crumbs into the prepared dish in an even layer. Use a fork to dock the dough all over so it doesn't puff up while baking.
- Bake the tart crust for 30-33 minutes until the crust is completely cooked through. Let cool completely before filling with lemon curd.
- Lemon Curd Filling
- In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, whisk together the cornstarch and sugar. Then whisk in everything except the vanilla and butter and whisk constantly until thickened, for 7-10 mins. Keep whisking until the warm lemon curd is nappé, or coats the back of a spoon, you can run a finger down it and it stays separated.
- Add the vanilla then the cold butter, one piece at a time, and whisk until incorporated before adding the next cube of butter.
- Remove from heat and pass the lemon curd through a fine mesh sieve, if desired.
- Pour the warm lemon curd into the cooled, baked tart shell and smooth the top of the curd with the back of a spoon.
- Cover the tart with a sheet of plastic wrap and let cool in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
- Make the Meringue
- In a small saucepan over high heat with a candy thermometer attached, combine the granulated sugar and water, stirring only until it comes to a boil.
- Once it reaches a boil, stop stirring. Cook until sugar syrup registers 240 degrees F (115 degrees C) on the thermometer.
- While the syrup rises to temperature, combine the room-temperature egg whites, vanilla extract, and cream of tartar in the very clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Set mixer to medium-high speed and whisk until soft peaks form (the lifted whisk should form gentle peaks in the egg whites that very slowly collapse back into themselves) about 2-3 minutes.
- When the sugar syrup comes to temperature, carefully and slowly drizzle in hot sugar syrup while the mixer is whisking at medium speed, avoiding the whisk in the bowl. Be careful. This hot syrup can burn you if you get it on you. Aim for a spot between the whisk and the side of the bowl.
- Once all the syrup is added, increase the mixer's speed to high and whisk on high speed until the bottom of the mixer bowl is cool to the touch, 10 minutes.
- Serving
- Remove the plastic wrap from the cooled lemon tart.
- Pipe or dollop the meringue onto the top of the lemon curd. If dolloping, use a spoon to make swoops and swirls for a more beautiful finish.
- Use a culinary torch to gently scorch and brown the meringue.
- Serve. The meringue is stable, it won't weep or deflate so you can decorate ahead of time.
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