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Luscious Lemon Tart with Meringue (Gluten Free)

Lemon is always a good idea. It's the perfect dessert after a heavy meal. The tartness balanced with a little sweet of the custard.
Servings 6 -8 servings
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Dough Chill Time: 1-2 hours/ Crust Bake Time: 25 minutes 1 hour 25 minutes

Equipment

  • 1 rectangle or round tart pan with a removable bottom
  • 1 piece of parchment to line pan
  • 1 pastry brush

Ingredients

Crusts:

  • 1 cup brown rice flour, gf
  • ½ cup white rice flour, gf
  • ½ cup cassava flour, gf
  • ½ cup tapioca starch, gf
  • 14 tbsp  butter, unsalted, cut up
  • ¼ teaspoon salt, omit if using salted butter
  • 4  tablespoons sugar
  • 1 egg yolk
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla, gf
  • 1 tbsp heavy cream
  • ½-1 tbsp cold water
  • 2 tbsp egg white

Filling:

  • 1 tbsp cornstarch, gf
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¾ cup half and half or ⅜ cup cream and ⅜ cup milk
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 4 tbsp  butter, unsalted
  • Pinch of salt (omit if using salted butter)
  • cup  lemon juice
  • teaspoons lemon zest
  • 3 large egg yolks

Meringue:

  • 3 large egg whites
  • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar, gf
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla, gf
  • 6 tbsp superfine sugar

Instructions

Crust

  • Using a hand mixer or stand mixer with the paddle attachment, combine the flours and cut up butter, mixing on low speed. Add the sugar and increase speed to medium and continue mixing.
  • When the butter is in very small crumb pieces, add the egg yolk and the vanilla. Then add the cream while mixing. Add ½ tablespoon of cold water and mix for 30 seconds until the dough begins to pull together.
  • Turn off the mixture and press together with your hands. If the dough is still crumbly, add up to ½ tablespoon more of water and mix for 10 seconds.
  • Remove the dough from the mixer and divide into two equal balls of dough.
    Press each dough ball into a disc about 1/2" thick. Wrap each disc in cellophane or a ziploc bag. Chill for for 1-2 hours. Makes 2 tart crusts.
    **At this point you can also freeze one disc of dough for another day.
  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, with the rack in the center of the oven.
  • Prepare the tart pan with a piece of parchment to line the bottom of the pan only.
  • Roll the dough out to ⅛” thick between two lightly floured parchment sheets. When the dough is the approximate size, pull off the top parchment and set the dough side down into the tart pan. Remove the excess dough by using your fingers to press against the tart edges and pull the excess dough off.
  • Poke holes in the crust using a fork. Brush 1 tablespoon egg white on each crust.
  • Bake for 22-25 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven.
  • Pour the hot filling into the baked crust.

Filling

  • While the dough is chilling, make the filling. In a medium saucepan, add the sugar, cornstarch, half and half, or cream and milk, honey, and butter. Stir to combine. Set burner to low or medium low heat, and stir continuously until just before boiling.
  • Add the lemon juice and zest and stir thoroughly for a minute or two. While stirring the whisked egg yolks, using a whisk, pour in a steady stream two thirds of the mixture in the saucepan into the whisked yolks. Stir for a minute before adding the remainder of the milk mixture. Stir to combine and pour back into the saucepan. Cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes.
  • Remove the saucepan from the heat and pass the mixture through a sieve. Set aside until the tart shell is pre-baked. Fills one tart shell.

Meringue

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Set the oven rack 5-6 inches from the top of the oven, in the top fourth of the oven.
  • Using the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, beat the egg whites, cream of tartar and the vanilla over low speed for a minute until small bubbles form. Increase the speed to medium and beat until glossy soft peaks form.
  • Add the sugar slowly, shaking into the egg whites in small amounts until all of the sugar has been incorporated. Beat until firm but not stiff peaks appear.
  • Spread the Merigue onto the Lemon Filling, making some peaks in the meringue. Or fill a piping bag with a star tip and pipe dollops on the top of the tart. Tops one tart.
  • Bake in the top fourth of a 350 degree oven for 14-18 minutes, rotating often to bake the meringue evenly.
  • Remove to a wire rack to cool. After cooling, refrigerate for 3-4 hours minimum. Slice into 6-8 pieces and serve. Serve with Breyer’s Vanilla Ice Cream (gluten free) or my Perfectly Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream (Gluten Free) if desired.

Notes

Serve with Breyer’s Vanilla Ice Cream (gluten free) or my Perfectly Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream (Gluten Free) if desired.
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Cakes & Dessert, lemon, lemon dessert, tart