Tarte au Citron (Lemon Tart)

Perfectly tangy, with a super-tender short crust, this is our favorite way to make the French classic tarte au citron. No rolling required — you press the dough into the pan with your fingers, and no need for pie weights. And if you’d like to use Meyer lemons, that’s lovely, too.

READ: “Classic French lemon tart: After 15 years of tinkering with the recipe, this is the one we adore”

It’s not absolutely necessary to make the crust first, especially if you want to prepare both crust and filling a day or two in advance. The crust takes about 45 minutes to chill then 25 minutes to blind-bake before filling. The curd filling needs to cool completely after cooking before you fill the crust. To speed cooling, you can set the bowl of just-cooked curd in an ice bath and whisk to cool it down more quickly, or pour it into a wide, shallow dish to chill in the fridge if you have plenty of room. Or you can keep it, covered and refrigerated, for up to two weeks. But if you do this, be careful — it’s really delicious to eat by the spoonful or slather it on your toast, and if you or someone in your household succumbs to the temptation, you won’t have enough to fill your tart.

If your lemons are not juicy, you may need more than called for in the recipe — maybe buy an extra couple to be safe.

For the crust, if you happen to be using European-style higher-fat butter, use about a teaspoon less of water.

Makes a 9-inch tart.

Ingredients

For the short crust shell

135 g / 4.75 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup plus two tablespoons)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar