Lemon Lime Tart plus Shortbread Crust

You’ll love this beautiful lemon lime tart, bursting with tart citrus flavor and encased in an irresistible shortbread crust!

At a glance

What stands out: This dessert looks elegant but it’s relatively straightforward to prepare.

How long it takes: about an hour and 15 minutes, additional time to cool
Equipment you’ll need: tart pan, mixing bowl
Servings: 10

Isn’t this a beautiful dessert? We love how tart pans make a dessert look so fancy. Take a regular shortbread crust and press it into a tart pan with its fluted edges and wowza! it’s an elegant creation.

Lemony desserts are so refreshing. We love this lemon pudding (unbelievably it has only 3 ingredients!) and adorable lemon parfaits. When we want a spectacular lemon dessert, we go for layer cake with from-scratch lemon filling and lemon cream cheese frosting.

Are you a fan of lemon bars? We just love lemon bars with the sweet buttery crunchy crust and smooth tangy filling. They are a reliable combination, aren’t they? We just realized we don’t have a recipe for them on our site. We’ll have to rectify that soon.

You’ll love this lemon lime tart, too. It’s pretty much lemon bars dressed up in a tart pan. We like the combination of lemon and lime, too, for a little extra pizzazz!

What is a Tart Pan?

Tart pans are shallow baking pans, made out of nonstick metal, with a flat removable bottom and fluted sides. A tart pan can also be used to make quiches.

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How it comes together

This is a pretty straightforward dessert to make. The shortbread crust doesn’t have to be rolled out or anything. You just press it into the tart pan with your fingers as evenly as you can. The crust is prebaked before adding the filling.

The filling is straightforward, too. Once you juice a lemon and a couple of limes, it takes about two minutes. Remember to zest the limes before you juice them. It’s so much easier.

Just whisk a few eggs, add flour and sugar, and the juice. You can mix it up while the crust is baking.

Once the crust is firm to the touch, carefully pour in the filling. This is the trickiest part. That tart pan is shallow and the filling goes nearly up to the top. Unless you have really steady hands, it’s hard not to jostle it, making it spill over the edges.

Pro Tip

Leave the crust right in the oven, placed on a baking sheet to catch any spills. Pull the oven rack out a bit, and pour the filling in. Then carefully slide the oven rack back into the oven. Phew! Pat yourself on the back if you don’t slosh any of the filling out!

Bake the tart an additional forty minutes or until the filling is nearly set. Give the pan a little shake and see if the filling jiggles. If it looks liquidy yet, it’s not done. Bake it for a few more minutes.

Once the tart is cooled, sprinkle it with powdered sugar. It’s wonderful at room temperature or chilled. Store leftovers in the fridge.

Before you start

Make It Your Own

• Don’t have a tart pan? Use a springform pan or pie plate.
• Instead of a lemon/lime combination, make the tart with all lime juice or all lemon juice.
• Substitute a cookie crust or graham cracker crust for the shortbread crust.

Keeping leftovers

The tart can be kept at room temperature for a few hours but if it’s going to be longer, it should be refrigerated. Although we've never tried it, other recipes say that lemon tart freezes well and will keep for up to 3 months.

Pies and Tarts

Cranberry Pecan Pie – the reliable twist on pecan pie!

Note: This post was extensively updated June, 2020.

• Yield: 10 servings
• Prep: 15 minutes
• Cook: 1 hour
• Total: 1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients

Shortbread Crust

• ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened ( 1 ½ sticks)
• ⅓ cup powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)
• 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Filling

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• powdered sugar for dusting

Method

1. Set a rimmed baking sheet on oven rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a 9- or 10-inch tart pan by spraying lightly with non-stick spray.
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix together powdered sugar, flour, and salt. Add butter, and mix ingredients together until a dough forms. Pat dough evenly into bottom and sides of tart pan.
3. Bake crust for 15 to 20 minutes, or until firm. Meanwhile, prepare filling.
4. In a medium sized bowl (you can use the same bowl), lightly whisk eggs. Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk until smooth. Carefully pour the filling into baked crust. We leave the crust in the oven and pour the filling into it so we don’t have to transfer it.
5. Bake for 40 minutes at 350°F or until mostly set. Cool completely on wire rack, at least 30 minutes. Remove sides from pan.
6. Dust with powdered sugar and slice. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Refrigerate leftovers.

Notes

If desired, make the tart with all lemon or all lime juice.

Remember to zest the lime before you juice it.