This dessert is easy to make and has a soft almond flour crust that's filled with a creamy dairy free lemon curd filling. The whole thing is topped with fresh berries and is a perfect sweet treat! The lemon tart follows not only the paleo diet, but is SCD friendly as well! This recipe is gluten free, grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free!
Hi Friends! I don't know if anyone else is a fan of The Great British Baking Show, but I'm obsessed. I stumbled upon it one night on Netflix and now I can't get enough of their British accents, affinity for tea or the delicious looking baked goods they make. They're genuinely nice to each other throughout the competition, which is really refreshing to see. One of the episodes had the contestants making tarts, and they looked SO good that I knew I had to give it a shot!
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The gluten free crust for this tart has a soft, almost buttery flavor even though there's no butter in sight! It's so good! Make sure to mix the ingredients well before pressing the dough into your pan. I decided on an adorable rectangular tart pan
for the simple reason that I find it easier to cut and serve! A pie dish will work just fine for this recipe though or you could even make it in little individual tart pans!
Either way, you want to make sure to press the dough into the pan as evenly as possible before pricking holes into the dough with a fork. The crust is going to go into the oven until it's a golden brown color. Almond flour tends to burn and brown quickly, so keep an eye on it while it's baking. Let the crust cool completely before adding the lemon curd filling.
Let's talk about the filling for a second! This lemon curd is SO creamy and tangy that I always end up eating a few spoonfuls before actually pouring it into my tart crust! Lemon curd is pretty easy to make but it requires patience. A lot of patience. Like you're going to be constantly whisking the mixture over the stove for at least 10 or 15 minutes kind of patience.
You're going to begin by pouring lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs and honey into a small saucepan and whisking until everything is combined and smooth. Then add your coconut oil into the saucepan and place the whole thing over low heat on your stove. What I'm going to tell you now is super important...you need to whisk the mixture the ENTIRE time it's over the heat! If you don't continually whisk you're going to end up with scrambled eggs, which is not at all what we're going for here!
Once the coconut oil has melted into the mixture, you can increase the heat to medium. Keep whisking. And whisking. And whisking. Remember, patience! You'll be able to see and actually feel when it turns into curd. The mixture will thicken and turn slightly lighter in color. It will take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes for this to happen.
At this point your curd might have little lumps in it. That's ok! Those lumps are the lemon zest and little tiny pieces of egg that might have cooked while you were whisking. You're going to strain the curd into a bowl, getting rid of those lumps and what you'll be left with is a smooth lemon curd.
Let the curd cool for about 15 minutes before pouring it into your tart crust. Transfer the tart to the fridge for about an hour. Give the tart a little jiggle, if the curd doesn't move then you'll know it's set and ready to be enjoyed! Once the curd has set you can top the tart with fresh berries or just leave it without a topping. It's delicious no matter what!
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to enjoy a large slice and the next episode of the Great British Baking Show!
Here are more tarts and pies for you to try!
- Banana Cream Pie
- Vanilla Custard Tart
- No Bake Strawberry Gelatin Pie
- Pear and Havarti Tart with Cinnamon Honey Drizzle
If you’ve made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below!
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Updated on 3/1/18 to refine the directions!
Paleo Lemon Tart
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ½ cups almond flour
- 2 Tbsp honey
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
- 1 Tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
Filling
- 2 Tbsp lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
- ¼ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
- ¾ cup honey
- ¼ cup coconut oil
- 2 large eggs (room temp)
- ¼ tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease the sides and bottom of a tart pan with coconut oil. In a small bowl, use a spoon to mix together the almond flour, honey, coconut oil and lemon juice.
- Press the dough evenly into the bottom and sides of the tart pan. Use a fork to prick holes into the dough before baking for 10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
- Allow the crust to cool completely before adding the filling.
- Place all ingredients for the filling, except the coconut oil, into a small saucepan and whisk them together. Add the coconut oil to the saucepan before placing the pan on the stove over low heat.
- Whisk the mixture continuously while it's over the heat. Once the coconut oil has melted, increase the heat to medium.
- Continue to whisk the mixture until it has thickened. It should take 10 to 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and strain the curd into a bowl. Do not skip this step! Straining will remove the lemon zest and any pieces of egg that may have cooked.
- Allow the curd to cool for 15 minutes before pouring into the tart crust. Place the tart in the refrigerator for about an hour to cool and set. If the curd does not jiggle when moving the pan, it's ready!
- Top with berries after the curd has set and just prior to serving or leave without a topping. Store the tart in the refrigerator.
Notes
Nutrition
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Cara
What can you use instead of a tart maker? I don’t have one too make it with!
Jennifer Brown
You can use a pie dish, just be sure to grease it really well!
Nushi
Super delicious- creamy and lemon zesty- a beautiful yummy alternative to a fatty sugary cake. Happy
Andrea
Finally I decided to make this tart and I have no idea what took me so long. Maybe the patience part intimidated me a little.
It turn out delicious! I used butter for the crust since I’m not a fan of coconut oil on too many things. I didn’t have a non stick pan so I used a very well buttered glass pie and I’d got stuck anyways, I’m not sure now if it’s crumbling because of the butter or the pan! Also the curd it’s not the pretty pale yellow color you have on the picture but more orange, but the flavor was amazing!!!!!
Thank you.
Jennifer
Great to hear you enjoyed the flavor of the tart!
Maria
Hey ! I just find this recipe and tried it. My curd was so oily and when I strained it , the oil got separated from the curd so i was straining the oil. Do you have any suggestions on how to make it better ? Thank youu
Jennifer
When you stirred the curd did the oil incorporate back into it? I haven't had this happen to me so I'll need a few more details from you! Did you make any changes to the ingredients or the directions? Did you use coconut oil or sub a different oil? Did you use large eggs? The more detailed info you provide the better chance I can help you figure out what went wrong.
Maria
I didn’t substitute any ingredients and used large eggs but the oil stayed separated when i stirred the curd. Yesterday i made these again but i only used 2 tbsp of oil for the curd and it turned out perfect. Thank you for the recipe my family loved it !
Jess
Hi! Just wondering if I can use egg substitute for this. Thanks!
Jennifer
I haven't tried it with an egg substitute so I'm not sure. If you decide to test it out I'd love to hear how it turned out!
Jess
Will do 🙂
Sue
Per your suggestion I used 2 cups of almond flour and 1/2 cup of coconut oil for the crust for a 9" round tart pan. It was buttery and delicious. The curd was cooked on the stove for 15 minutes and looked thick enough. I strained it into a bowl and cooled it before pouring it into the crust. Unfortunately it was still so soupy when I cut it after chilling it (with no fruit on it) that it poured all over the plate. It was perfectly tart and delicious but too loose. Suggestions?
Jennifer
Glad to hear you enjoyed the crust! It's a shame the lemon curd didn't set for you. Did you use large eggs? If you did then the curd more than likely needed more time over the stove and/or more time in the fridge to set. When whisking it over the heat the curd should have had a subtle thickening and a slight change in color.
Kay
Wow this is such a simple, low ingredient but delicious tart! Thank you. I made this for my non paleo family who loved it so much. I greased the tray really well woth coconut oil and didn't have any problems removing the tart. I was worried that the curd wouldn't set but at the 11min mark - magic. Will definitely make this again
Tammy
I am making this as we speak . I’m actually making three of them. The first crust came out of the oven and I let it cool. When removing it from the pan a couple pieces on the sides broke off. Do you have any suggestions as to how into retrieve it form the pan without breaking? I would greatly appreciate it.
Tammy Hanlon
Jennifer
I apologize for the late response, I took a little social media/website break this weekend so this suggestion is probably too late but you could try greasing the sides and bottom of the tart pan with more coconut oil. I'd also suggest placing the crust into the fridge for 20 to 30 minutes to help the crust harden up a bit before removing from the pan. Since almond flour has no gluten to help bind it together, baked goods are VERY fragile.