Sweet and tart lemon filling all Brûléed on top with a nice sugar crust then, that sweet lemon is surrounded by a simple shortbread crust! And, OMG is this Meyer Lemon Brûlée Tart delicious! We were super impressed by this dessert!
I decided to make this tart with shortbread crust for the lemon dessert challenge I took on with some blogger friends. Check out below to see all the recipes that my friends have come up with!
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Please let me know if you have any questions about this recipe. I read all the comments myself and I try to help as soon as I can. I have readers from all levels of comfort and experience in the kitchen on my site, and I’ve tried to answer some of your questions already in the post. But if I’ve missed anything, please feel free to leave a comment and ask.
Lemon recipes
I’ve teamed up with some amazing food bloggers to bring you some delicious lemon recipes!
You’ll find both savory and sweet recipes in this collection, just make sure to scroll down below the recipe to see all the other great recipes in this collection!
Lemon desserts you’ll love!
I love lemon. And lemon desserts are probably my favorite kind! If you love lemon like I do, you’re sure to want to check out these delicious treats!
Lemon Bars: these are the award winning best, and every time I bring them to a family gathering everyone asks for the recipe!
Lemon Poke Cake: a homemade from scratch moist lemony cake that’s the perfect balance of tart lemon and light sweet cake.
Grandma’s Lemon Custard Pie with Lemon Curd Topping: So good and so unusual, this easy to make pie will soon be your new favorite!
Lemon Souffle Magic Cakes: so much fun in a little cup, these cakes separate out into delicious layers!
Tart recipe
This Lemon Tart with Shortbread Crust is a stunningly delicious little dessert.
Sweet, but not too much. Light with citrusy lemon. Buttery shortbread crust.
All topped off with a crispy caramel Brûléed sugar top. Oh, it’s like heaven on a plate!
Great for a special event
This tart would be great for a special meal like Easter or Mother’s Day. And, I’m looking forward in the year quite a bit.
But this would be so awesome for after a big heavy meal like Thanksgiving, since this tart is nice and light in flavor. I think all of my family will love this one!
Lemon extract
I suggest lemon extract for this dessert. I love using just a little bit of lemon extract in my lemony desserts. It brightens them ever-so-nicely.
But, if you don’t have any lemon extract, and don’t want to buy any, no worries, the dessert is lovely without the extract. I just think the extract makes it a little more special!
Can I use regular lemons for this?
Yes, you can use regular lemons for this dessert.
Meyer lemons have a more mellow and sweeter flavor than ordinary lemons.
Regular lemons can be used in place of Meyer lemons in this recipe, but keep in mind that they contain less sugar, more acid, and are more sour and thus have the tart will have a stronger, more powerful lemon flavor.
Check out my citrus board on Pinterest
I’ve made a whole Pinterest board for Citrus! Come take a look, you’ll find my recipes, plus a whole lot more!
Follow Life Currents’s board Citrus and Light Recipes on Pinterest.
Check out all the other lovely lemon recipes below from bloggers who took part in our 30 Day Lemon Challenge.
- Buttery Lemon Garlic Rice by Hot Eats and Cool Reads
- Lemon Cardamom Scones by Manila Spoon
- Lemon Garlic Chicken by Savory Experiments
- Creamy Lemon Layered Pie by Who Needs A Cape?
- Lemon Panna Cotta by Culinary Ginger
- Noshing With The Nolands brings us Lemon Pie Bars
- Lemon Pudding Cheesecake by Serena Bakes Simply From Scratch
- No Bake Lemon Cheesecake by Num’s the Word
- Mini Meyer Lemon Loaves by Liv for Cake
- Zingy Lemon Chicken Wings by Lovefoodies
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Meyer Lemon Brûlée Tart with Shortbread Crust Recipe
Meyer Lemon Brûlée Tart with Shortbread Crust
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup cold butter cut in pieces
Meyer Lemon Filling
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar divided use
- 1 teaspoon finely grated Meyer lemon zest
- ½ cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract optional
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 whole large egg
Instructions
- Spray a 9-inch springform pan or tart pan with removable bottom with cooking spray. Line a cookie sheet with a silpat, parchment paper, or foil.
- Place all crust ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until dough starts to form clumps, about 30 seconds to a minute. Dough will be quite loose and dry at first, just continue pulsing until clumps form. Gather dough, and place in the springform pan.
- Press the dough with your fingers, evenly to the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan. Lightly prick bottom of the pie shell all over with a fork. Cover pie shell with plastic wrap, and let rest in refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Put oven rack in middle position, and preheat oven to 425˚ F. Place pie shell on prepared cookie sheet, and bake for 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove pie shell and cookie sheet from oven and reduce oven temperature to 300° F.
While pie shell bakes, prepare filling
- Whisk together cream, 2/3 cup sugar, zest, juice, extract, yolks, and whole egg until combined.
- Place tart shell (while still in the pan) and cookie sheet on the oven rack with the rack extended, and carefully pour filling into pie shell, then carefully slide rack into oven. Bake tart at 300° F until custard is set but still wiggles in center when gently shaken, 25 to 35 minutes (tart will continue to cook as it cools on the counter). Remove tart from cookie sheet, and cool in springform pan on a cooling rack 30 minutes, then remove springform ring, and cool tart to room temperature, about 1 ¼ hours.
- Before serving, sprinkle remaining tablespoon of sugar evenly over top of tart. Move blowtorch flame evenly back and forth just above top of tart, avoiding crust, until sugar is caramelized and slightly browned. Store tart in an airtight container in the fridge.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations, and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary based on brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes, and more.
Amber
I like that you can make many desserts so far in advance with mouth watering recipes and then simply caramelize the top just before serving!!
cheer up!!!!!
Marlene
This looks so lovely, and my Meyer Lemon tree is gifting me with more lemons than I can use, so I’ve got a stash of juice and zest in the freezer waiting for this recipe. One question, though: I do not have a brûlée torch; is there a way to caramelize this under the broiler, maybe with the edges of the crust covered with foil?
Debi
Marlene, having too many Meyer lemons is a good problem to have! Yes, you can brulee under the broiler. I remember doing it once and it worked fine. I do like the idea of covering the crust with foil – I think that’s a great way to make sure it doesn’t get over cooked. It’ll probably take about 3-5 minutes. Let me know if you try it, and about how long you think it takes. I’ll update the recipe with the info. And thanks for the comment! 🙂
Ann Hansen
I simply don’t understand, why you line the cookie sheet with parchment paper? As I understand it, and also see in your photos, the springform has a bottom. Så why does it need to stand on parchment paper? Or on a cookie sheet for that matter? I find it quite confusing. When I make tarts or pies, I just put the springform directly on the oven rack.
Debi
Ann, I use the lined tray underneath the springform pan in case anything leaks out, this catches the drips and makes for easy clean up. The tray is also easier for many people to grab a hold of when removing the hot tart from the oven (you don’t accidentally stick your hot pad into the tart, and it’s a larger surface to grab a hold of). It also makes for more stable movements when putting the filled tart pan into the oven. If you choose not to do this step, that is fine.
Ann Hansen
Thank you for answering so quickly. I shall make it tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to it. Looks delicious. A combi of my two favourite desserts, lemon tart and créme brûlee. what’s not to like?
Yvonne
Hi, i would like to make your pie. But in Holland we won’t have buttersticks…. how many grams is that?
Debi
Hi Yvonne, thanks for the question. A stick of butter is 1/2 cup (which I know is still a US measurement). So the crust has 3/4 cup butter in it. That’s 170 grams of butter. Hope that helps! Enjoy the pie! 🙂
Ann Hansen
Yvonne! One stick of butter is 113 gram.
Linda
I used this recipe just the past Sunday. It was a hit!. Absolutely delicious. Today is St. Valentine’s Day and I am in the process of making another. Only this time I am going to use raspberries. Thank you for a wonderful recipe.
Colette
I’ve made this recipe twice now and both times the crust slides down forming a thicker crust in the corners. I’m doing exactly as the instructions including the hour in the fridge, but can’t for the life of me work out what’s going wrong. I’m not giving up as it’s amazing, but would love any thoughts you may have.
Debi
Colette, first, I’m so glad you love the tart! It’s been one of my favorites for years. I make the crust all the time and never have problems. I use my knuckle to get into the corners and press it out nice and thin. Some trouble shooting that may help: Make sure you’re using stick butter rather than one of those soft tub types of butter. When you spread out the crust after you make it in the food processor, try adding a little less to the edges and more in the center. Make sure you prick the bottom lots with a fork. The crust could get all puffy if not pricked enough on the bottom, which would make it seem like the sides slide down. If you’re already doing those, you could try making it in a deep dish pie tin. It would change the final tart/pie a bit, and I’ve never actually tried it in a pie pan, but the slopes of the sides rather than the straight sides of a springform pan, might keep it from slipping down. I hope those help. I wish I had more to offer, but I’ve never encountered that before.
Wendy Pederson
Would using regular lemons make much of a difference in this recipe? I live in an area that has never seen a Meyer Lemon offered, and I’m always leery about the substitution as when I’ve tried the recipe either fell apart completely or was far to acidic & sour.
Debi
Wendy, I’ll be fine using regular lemons in place of the Meyer Lemons in this recipe. I love lemon desserts and feel they are great with regular lemons as well as Meyer lemons.
Milena
Amazing tart – everyone at home loved it! I didn’t have enough butter, so added olive oil instead, but still – great taste. I called it “the intelligent lemon dessert” as it tastes like something you can eat in а french “patissery” next to the Paris Opera for example ;)))
Joy
Hi Debi, I plan to try making your lemon brulee tart but i have a couple of issues with your recipe. First of all, a ‘STICK’ is not a measurement, it is something you throw for the dog!!
And secondly, I’m under the impression that an ordinary lemon from the market will not work for this recipe, it must be a ‘MEYER’ lemon. Looking forward to hearing your response.
Debi
Hi Joy, I’m sorry you’re having issues. A stick is a common measurement of butter, however, to be clear, I’ve updated the recipe card for you, and 1 & ½ sticks of butter is ¾ of a cup.
Meyer lemons have a more mellow and sweeter flavor than ordinary market lemons. Regular lemons can be used in place of Meyer lemons in this recipe, but keep in mind that they contain less sugar, more acid, and are more sour and thus have the tart will have a stronger, more powerful lemon flavor.
Josipa Hickman
Hi Debi, 1 cup sugar should make the crust very sweet which I think is not important. Can I substitute the sugar with flour and put 2 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of sugar.
Debi
Josipa, The sugar in the crust gives a nice balance of flavor, as well as adding moisture and good texture to the crust. If you would like to cut back on the sugar, I would do just that and not increase the amount of flour. Adding more flour would make the crust dry and give it a too crumbly texture. I have not tried reducing the sugar in the crust so if you try it, let me know how it goes.
Julie
We love lemon desserts and this recipe was so delicious! It looked like we picked it up at a bakery and it wasn’t difficult to make.