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    Home / Desserts / Tarts & Pies

    French Lemon Meringue Tart

    Last update: May 1, 2025 Published: Jan 29, 2023 by Fadela This post may contain affiliate links

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe·5 from 2 reviews

    How to make a classic French lemon curd tart recipe with a delicious fluffy meringue topping as delightful as this lemon cream pie recipe. Made with a crispy homemade sweet tart crust filled with tangy lemon custard and a beautiful meringue topping.

    table with a lemon meringue tart on a plate
    Jump to:
    • Ingredients Notes
    • How to Make Classic French lemon Meringue Tart
    • Tips for this recipe
    • Variations & Substititons
    • Recipe Questions
    • More Tart Recipes
    • French Lemon Meringue Tart

    Lemon Meringue Tart, known in French as 'tarte au citron meringuée', is a world-famous dessert from France, loved for its sweet yet zesty lemon flavor. It's an absolute must-try for anyone who's a fan of lemony sweets.

    With only 3 preparations, this lemon tart is made of a homemade crispy shortcrust pastry "Pate sucree", with a creamy lemon curd filling, and as a decoration, a fluffy frosting made of Italian meringue.

    As in my lemon meringue tarts, this tart is perfectly balanced, we find both the tangy taste of the yellow lemon on a crunchy and buttery sweet crust and a smooth and creamy meringue topping.

    Craving for more lemon recipes? Give these a try Lemon Bundt Cake with sugar icing, lemon curd cake, lemon macarons, Lemon poppy seed pound cake and lemon loaf cake, lemon buttercream frosting.

    Ingredients Notes

    You need these ingredients to make this lemon curd tart:

    • Tart crust: Pâte sucrée is a sweet pastry dough recipe used by pastry chefs. It's a different preparation from a simple butter pie crust, with flour, almond flour, powdered sugar (icing sugar), salt, and an egg to bind everything together.
    • Lemon filling: Lemon curd is prepared with whole eggs, freshly squeezed lemon juice and its zest, powdered sugar, and butter to thicken it. (You can add cornstarch or gelatin for a more consistent texture).
    • Meringue frosting: Italian meringue is most often used for making toasted meringue topping, but you can also use French meringue or Swiss meringue.
    lemon curd tart cut in half

    How to Make Classic French lemon Meringue Tart

    Here are some quick visual instructions. Don't forget that full recipe instructions with exact ingredients can be found in the recipe card below!

    Step 1: In the large bowl of your stand mixer, place the softened butter with the powdered sugar, almond meal, room temperature egg, and pinch of salt and beat with the paddle attachment on medium speed until creamy.

    Step 2: Then add the flour and mix again at medium speed, just until incorporated. Gather the dough with your hands and form a ball of dough. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

    bowl with ingredients
    tart dough

    Step 3: Roll out the dough with a rolling pin on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of 3 mm. Then line a pastry ring or tart pan with a removable bottom with the dough.

    Step 4: Place the tart shell in a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and plate it in the freezer for 1 hour before baking it in the oven at 347°F/ 175°C for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

    Let the pie crust cool completely before carefully removing from the tart ring.

    spread out pastry on a tart ring
    pie crust

    Lemon curd filling

    Step 1: In a heatproof bowl, whisk together the room-temperature eggs, sugar, fresh lemon juice and lemon zest. Then cook the preparation in a double boiler by placing the bowl on a saucepan containing a little heated water over medium heat and while stirring constantly with a whisk until the cream thickens.

    Step 2: Remove from the heat and add the pieces of unsalted butter and stir vigorously to incorporate them. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove any residual cooked egg and lemon zest.

    Let cool: Transfer the lemon mixture to a jar or cover it with plastic wrap and let cool completely in the refrigerator.

    bowl with lemon mixture
    bowl with lemon filling and butter

    Assembly

    Garnish the center of the cooled tart shell with the lemon tart filling and smooth the surface with a spatula, then place the filled tart in the refrigerator.

    lemon curd tart on a work surface

    Meringue topping

    Step 1: Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and mix at medium-slow speed.

    Step 2: Place granulated sugar and water in a saucepan and heat over medium heat while controlling the temperature, which should be 244°F/118°C.

    Step 3: Pour the sugar syrup over the egg whites and continue mixing at high speed until you have a shiny, firm meringue.

    Decorate: Fill a piping bag with the frosting and decorate the top of the lemon curd tart, then apply a blowtorch to lightly burn the meringue.

    Enjoy! Serve the lemon meringue tart immediately with fresh berries or place it in the refrigerator.

    saucepan with cooked sugar
    large mixing bowl with meringue

    Tips for this recipe

    • Quality Ingredients: Use fresh lemons for the best flavor. The zest and juice of real lemons make a big difference compared to bottled lemon juice.
    • Smooth Lemon Filling: Cook the lemon filling until it's just thick enough. It should be smooth and creamy, not too runny or overly thick.
    • Blind bake: Place the tart shell in the freezer before baking. Frozen, it will keep its shape during baking, without the need to fill it with pie weights or the like.
    • Even Browning: For a perfectly browned meringue, use a kitchen torch or broil in the oven. Watch it closely to avoid burning.

    Variations & Substititons

    • Berry Lemon Tart: Add a layer of fresh raspberries or blueberries on top of the lemon filling before adding the meringue.
    • Lime or Orange Meringue Tart: Swap out lemon juice and zest for lime or orange to give a different citrusy flavor.
    • Ginger Lemon Tart: Infuse the lemon filling with a bit of fresh or ground ginger for a warm, spicy kick.
    • Chocolate Crust Lemon Tart: Replace your regular tart crust with a chocolate crust for a delightful lemon-chocolate combination.
    • Coconut Meringue Tart: Add shredded coconut to your meringue mixture for a tropical twist.
    • Whipped cream lemon tart: Replace the meringue topping with a whipped cream topping for a lighter texture.
    • Lemon curd tarts: To make mini tartlet version, follow my recipe for lemon curd tartlets.

    Recipe Questions

    Difference between lemon meringue pie and lemon meringue tart?

    The key difference lies in both the crust and the meringue: a classic lemon meringue pie usually has a flaky pastry crust and is often topped with a meringue that's baked in the oven, whereas a lemon meringue tart features a crumblier shortcrust pastry and its meringue is typically toasted with a torch.

    Which lemon should I use to make a lemon curd tart?

    For a lemon curd tart, you can use regular lemons for a classic tart flavor, or Meyer lemons for a sweeter, less acidic twist.

    More Tart Recipes

    • Classic strawberry tart
      French Strawberry Tart
    • Mini Lemon Meringue Tarts
    • Chocolat tart filled with salted caramel sauce
      Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart
    • Classic French Apple Tart
    lemon meringue tart slice on a plate

    I hope you love this French lemon meringue tart recipe. If you make it, be sure to leave a comment and a rating so I know how you liked it. Happy Baking!

    Print
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    French Lemon Meringue Tart


    5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

    5 from 2 reviews

    • Author: Fadela
    • Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
    • Yield: 10 slices
    Print Recipe
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    Description

    Delicious lemon meringue curd tart recipe with meringue topping made easy with 3 preparations, a sweet tart crust, lemon cream, and an Italian meringue (for a 10 inches / 25 cm tart - about 10 slices)


    Ingredients

    Sweet shortcrust pastry

    • 150 g (⅔ cup) Butter - unsalted and softened
    • 80 g (¾ cup) Powdered sugar - icing sugar or confectioner's sugar
    • 50 g (½ cup) Almond meal
    • 1 egg - room temperature
    • 2 pinches of salt
    • 250 g (2 cups) Flour - All-purpose

    Lemon curd

    • 150 g (¾ cup) Sugar - granulated
    • 80 ml (⅓ cup) lemon juice - approx. 2-3
    • 100 g(½ cup) Butter - unsalted
    • 3 eggs 
    • 1-2 lemon zest

    Meringue frosting

    • 2 egg whites - room temperature
    • 100 g (½ cup) Sugar - granulated
    • 34 g ( 2 tbsp) water

    Instructions

    Sweet shortcrust pastry

    1. Place the softened butter with the powdered sugar, almond meal, salt and egg in the bowl of the stand mixer and mix at medium speed with the paddle attachment until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
    2. Add the flour and mix again at medium speed just enough to incorporate it and have a homogeneous dough.
    3. Gather the dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
    4. Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of parchment paper or on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of 3 mm.
    5. Line a tart ring with the dough and place the tart shell in the freezer for 1 hour.
    6. Preheat the oven to 347°F / 175°C and bake the tart shell for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
    7. Let the pastry cool down a bit before removing it from the pastry ring and letting it cool completely at room temperature (you can brush the pastry with egg wash and bake it again for 10 minutes to get a golden brown and waterproof pastry)

    Lemon curd

    1. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, granulated sugar, lemon juice and zest.
    2. Then place the bowl in a saucepan containing a little water to cook the mixture in a double boiler.
    3. Heat the saucepan over medium heat and whisk until the cream thickens, about 15 to 20 minutes.
    4. Remove from heat and stir in the butter pieces into the cream.
    5. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until completely cooled.
    6. Fill the cooled tart shell with the lemon curd and smooth the top with an angled spatula.
    7. Place in the refrigerator while preparing the Italian meringue.

    Meringue frosting

    1. Place the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment at medium speed.
    2. Meanwhile, prepare the sugar syrup by mixing the granulated sugar and water in a saucepan.
    3. Heat the saucepan over medium heat and check the temperature with a food thermometer, which should read 244°F/118°C.
    4. Lower the speed of the mixer and drizzle the sugar syrup over the whites, which should be just frothy.
    5. Then continue at high speed until the meringue is shiny, cooled and firm.
    6. Fill a piping bag with the meringue and decorate the top of the tart, finish by using a blowtorch to burn the meringue.
    7. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator.

    Equipment

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    Baking dish

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    Hand mixer

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    Kitchen torch

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    Image of Perforated tart ring

    Perforated tart ring

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    Stand mixer

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    Notes

    Storage: Up to 3-4 days in the refrigerator and up to 3 months in the freezer without the meringue frosting.

    • Prep Time: 1 hour
    • Cook Time: 30 minutes
    • Category: tart,pie
    • Cuisine: French

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size: 1 slice
    • Calories: 552
    • Sugar: 34.2 g
    • Sodium: 508.3 mg
    • Fat: 31.3 g
    • Carbohydrates: 57.7 g
    • Protein: 10.9 g
    • Cholesterol: 128.1 mg

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    Easy Italian Meringue »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. LadyMilonguera

      January 29, 2023 at 7:29 pm

      This lemon tart is really pretty!

      Reply
      • Fadela

        February 03, 2023 at 10:49 am

        Thank you very much

        Reply
    2. Ghislaine

      January 15, 2024 at 11:47 am

      Delicious and the lemon filling is really mild and not too tart, perfect.

      Reply

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