Lemon Meringue Tarts

How to make lemon meringue tarts recipe, a crusty and buttery crust filled with lemon curd and decorated with a delicious Italian meringue. This recipe is easy and is a perfect dessert to enjoy the citrus season.

If you are a lover of tangy desserts and enjoy the classic lemon meringue tart then you won't resist for long making this mini lemon meringue tarts recipe.

This mini lemon tart has everything you need for a perfect dessert, a delicious and crunchy crust, with a generous layer of tart and sweet lemon curd and a fluffy meringue topping.

Made of three preparations, a perfect sweet pastry crust (pate sucree) used by the most talented French pastry chefs, ideal for making all tart shells with a delicious buttery and crunchy texture.

The famous lemon curd is a cream made with fresh lemon juice that can be used to fill a pie shell but is also perfect to fill a layer cake, cupcakes or even doughnuts.

And last but not least the famous sweet and fluffy meringue topping perfectly balances the tart flavors of these amazing mini lemon meringue tartlets.

>> See all tarts and pies recipes from the blog

Composition of these tartlets

Here are the ingredients needed to make these mini lemon meringue tarts at home and any substitutions, scroll down to see the quantities in the recipe card.

Sweet crust

The sweet shortcrust pastry is a basic recipe in French pastry, made of flour, powdered sugar, ground almonds, butter and an egg. The mixture makes a perfect pastry for making tart shells or mini tartlets.

It has a very crunchy texture and is less crumbly than french shortcrust pastry which contains more butter and is more like a shortbread dough and more flavorful than a simple shortcrust pastry which generally does not contain any nut ground.

Lemon curd filling

Lemon curd is a preparation based on fresh lemon juice, whole eggs or only egg yolks, powdered sugar, and lemon zest to which butter is added to firm up the texture. The whole gives a very smooth and perfect tangy lemon curd to fill all cakes.

Meringue topping

Usually, an Italian meringue recipe is used to make lemon meringue pie, but you can replace this meringue with another meringue recipe, like fluff, French meringue or Swiss meringue.

Italian meringue is made with only 3 ingredients, and even if it seems intimidating, it is very easy to make at home. Its smooth, creamy texture is ideal for softening the tangy taste of lemon.

You can make the tarts without the Italian meringue, they'll be just as delicious, or top them with whipped cream instead.

⚠️ You will find the quantities and complete instructions in the recipe card at the end of the page.

How to make lemon curd tarts whit meringue

1 - Tart crust

I recommend making the dough in a pastry mixer rather than a food processor, you need to cream the butter and then add the flour, the less you work the dough, the more it will be crunchy and it will retract less during the baking.

1. Place softened unsalted butter with powdered sugar, almond meal, egg and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and blend on medium speed until creamy.
2. Add flour and blend again just until incorporated.
3. Gather the dough and wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
4. Roll out the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper to a thickness of 3 mm and use it to line small pastry rings or a tart pan.
5. Place the tart ring on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place in the freezer for 1 hour.
6. Bake tart shells in the oven at 347°F / 175°C for about 15 minutes until golden brown.
7. Take them out of the oven and let them cool a bit before turning them out and letting them cool completely on a wire rack.

Tip: Let the tart shell sit in the freezer for at least 1 hour so that the dough holds its shape during baking.

2 - Lemon Curd filling

1. In a bowl, combine all ingredients, eggs, granulated sugar, fresh lemon juice and lemon zest.
2. Heat in a double boiler on medium heat while stirring until the mixture thickens.
3. Remove from heat, add butter pieces and mix to incorporate.
4. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until cool.
5. Fill the baked tart shell with the lemon filling and chill in the refrigerator.

3 - Meringue

1. Place the egg whites at room temperature in the mixing bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and mix at slow-medium speed.
2. Heat the sugar and water in a saucepan and check the temperature, which should be at least 118°C.
3. Carefully pour the hot sugar syrup over the sides of the mixer containing the eggs, which should be frothy, while leaving the mixer running at low speed.
4. Mix at high speed until you have a gloss meringue with stiff peaks form.
5. Place meringue in a large piping bag fitted with a decorative tip.
6. Poach the meringue on top of the lemon filling and use a blowtorch to create a burnt effect.

Conservation

In the fridge: Store the mini lemon tarts for about 3-4 days under plastic wrap or in an airtight container box.

Room temperature: The mini tart shells can be stored at room temperature for 4-5 days under a cloth or in a storage box.

In the freezer: You can keep the mini tarts with the lemon cream filling (without the meringue frosting ) in the freezer for up to 3 months.

More pies and tarts

• Strawberry Tart
• Chocolate tartlets
• Salted caramel chocolate tart
• French classic apple tart
• Rhubarb and almond tart
• French apple tart (Tarte Normande)

More lemon recipes

• Lemon Muffins with lemon glaze
• Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
• Lemon pound cake with lemon glaze
• Lemon Poppy Seed Pound Cake
• No-bake Key lime pie
• Lemon cream pie
• Lemon cupcakes
• Lemon meringue cake
• Lemon bundt cake

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