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Tart Lemon Pie
Updated May 6, 2024
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- Total Time
- About 1 ½ hours, plus several hours’ chilling
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- Perfect Pie Crust, doubled, prepared for a custard pie and chilled
- Egg wash (1 large egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water), for finishing
- 1¾cups/420 milliliters lemon juice (from 8 to 10 lemons)
- Zest of 2 lemons
- 1¾ cups/360 grams granulated sugar
- ⅓cup/45 grams cornstarch
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2large eggs
- 6large egg yolks
- 6tablespoons/85 grams cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
- Whipped cream, for serving (optional)
Preparation
- Step 1
On a lightly floured surface and using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out a disk of dough into a circle about ¼-inch thick. Starting at one end, gently roll up the dough onto the rolling pin. Unfurl the dough over a 9-inch pie plate, preferably ceramic, and press it in lightly, making sure it’s lining the plate.
- Step 2
Trim so that there’s about ½ inch of excess dough hanging over the edge of the pie plate. (If the dough feels warm, refrigerate it for 15 minutes.) Tuck the excess dough under itself so it is flush with the edge of the pie plate; leave the pie like this for a straight-edge finish, or crimp as desired. Dock the base and sides all over with a fork and refrigerate at least 30 minutes, and up to 2 hours.
- Step 3
Roll out the second disk of dough to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out several small triangles (or other shapes from the dough); do as many as you like, and as many as a few dozen for a more intricate design. You can cut them freehand, trace a stencil using a paring knife or use a small cookie cutter. Transfer the shapes to a baking sheet lined with parchment and chill at least 30 minutes.
- Step 4
Place a rack on the bottom shelf of the oven, and place a baking stone, if you have one, on the rack. Heat the oven to 425 degrees. Use a small brush to evenly paint egg wash on the edge of the crust. Cut a square of parchment paper and use it to line the crust. Fill with pie weights (or dried beans) up to the top edge. Place the plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment or foil.
- Step 5
Transfer the baking sheet to the oven, placing it directly on the baking stone if using. Bake until the outer edge is beginning to become golden brown, 17 to 20 minutes. Remove the parchment and pie weights. If the dough puffs up anywhere, you can puncture it with a fork. Continue to bake until the base is baked through and the outer edge is deeply brown, 12 to 15 minutes more. Cool the crust completely.
- Step 6
Egg wash the top of the triangle cutouts. Transfer to the oven on the middle rack and bake until they are evenly golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool completely.
- Step 7
When the crust is cool, make the filling: In a medium pot, whisk the lemon juice, lemon zest and ½ cup/120 milliliters water to combine. In a medium bowl, whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt to combine. Whisk this mixture into the pot and then place it over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the mixture comes to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium and cook at a simmer, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes.
- Step 8
In a medium, heatproof bowl, lightly whisk the whole eggs and egg yolks. When the lemon mixture has come to a simmer, gradually add about ¼ of the hot liquid to the egg yolks in a slow, steady stream while whisking constantly to combine.
- Step 9
Whisk the egg yolk mixture back into the pot, and switch to a heatproof spatula. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 5 to 7 minutes. It should come to a boil — not small bubbles around the outer edge, but fat bubbles from the center of the pot. (You should also see a distinct line that quickly closes in on itself if you drag your spatula through the curd.) Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the butter, a few cubes at a time. Mix thoroughly to combine.
- Step 10
Strain the lemon curd through a fine mesh sieve into the cooled pie crust, and spread into an even layer. Place plastic wrap directly over the surface when the pie is still hot and chill until the curd is set, at least 3 to 4 hours and up to overnight.
- Step 11
If you like, create an optional spiral on the surface of the pie once the curd is fully cool: Transfer the pie to a cake turntable. If the surface looks uneven, smooth it with a small offset spatula. Then place the spatula in the center of the curd at a 45-degree angle, and begin to rotate the turntable while you gently move the spatula towards the outer edge. Move steadily and not too slowly.
- Step 12
Keep the pie chilled until ready to serve. Just before serving, arrange the cutouts on the surface of the pie in 6 diagonal lines. If you like, alternate the points of the triangles on each line to create a more graphic effect. Serve with whipped cream, if desired. Store leftovers in the refrigerator wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
The tartness comes through beautifully if you opt for meringue because, for example, you forgot how small and delicate those little decorative triangles are and burned them in a moment of distraction. I'd even say the contrast with the sweet meringue enhances the tart's delicious lemony flavor.
Has anyone tried this recipe substituting the sugar with Splenda/sucralose or another sugarless sweetener?
Wonderful! I followed the recipe and design/decoration instructions precisely because I am an engineer not an experienced cook. Family and friends loved it. Next time I would skip the swirl in the lemon custard though. That was the trickiest step and it does not add that much to the final appearance. The triangles are simple and add crunchy texture and beauty.
It includes the lemon juice - just read it.
JY, you can safely put the whole pie topped with meringue in the oven to brown for ten to twelve minutes at 350 degrees. I waited till the pie was completely cooled to add and brown the meringue. I've done it twice now, with great results.
straining it makes it totally smooth. If you don't strain it, there will be noticeable bits of lemon peel in it. I like the bits of lemon peel, so I often don't strain it. For the pie, it might be better if the filling is very smooth, though
The first time I made this delicious pie, it was a real pain straining the zest out of the curd after it was thickened. This time, I mixed the juice and zest together and brought to a boil, then steeped the zest for an hour before straining the liquid. I then proceeded with the recipe. Worked great and much much easier!
This is the best lemon curd I've ever made. Definitely worth the effort, even the straining. Most lemon curds are far too sweet for me, so this one is just right and I'll be subbing it in for every lemon meringue pie from now on!
This took 3 hours! Although it tasted delicious.
I make this with no butter at all. Just leave it out. Curd is delicious anyway.
This might be even better in individual tarts. Neither I, nor my guests, find this to be tart. It is quite flavorful. I used fresh lemons. I cut the final butter into the custard down by half. Watch your crust carefully as it is easy to burn if you leave it in too long. I will make this again!
I was stoned when I made this and forgot the butter. We liked it more! The texture was great and it really gave a sharp tartness, rather than heavy tartness I would have gotten had i just added extra lemon.
Halved the sugar for a mouth puckering curd but it was just what everyone wanted. Served with whipped cream on the side. Our oven must run hot because our crust got a little burned even after only ~25 min instead of the minimum 29 mentioned. But overall very yummy!
This is a fantastic lemon curd! It took like 13 lemons to juice, but it was so worth it - very tart and lemony but not overly sour. I was lazy so I did a ginger snap crust instead of a real pie dough, and I used the extra egg whites to make a meringue, so I definitely deviated from the vision of the recipe, but the filling itself is outrageously delicious.
I made as directed except for mixing the pastry triangles and adding whole raspberries to the curd as I poured the curd into the crust. Tart, but pleasantly so rather than overwhelming. Served with whipped cream to good reviews. Would make again, though the curd did take more time to make than anticipated.
Soooooooo tart!
Made on 12/05/21. Awful. The crust was horrid, but the little individual decorations were tasty. Too tart, needs whipped çream. Nit worth the lemons, eggs or trouble.
Made this for Thanksgiving (the night before). I used Julia Child's Pate Brisee crust recipe in a deep dish pie pan, blind baked for base. I used about 10 Meyer Lemons for the filling. It was a fresh, dare I say "light" dessert after a decadent, carb heavy meal. Instead of decorating the top, I used a simple homemade whipped cream + candied lemon peels. Heavenly. It was a hit. Will definitely make this again & try new variations!
Whoa! That was a lot of filling! Enough for two pies. The extra made a nice pudding. Very tart. My family likes that sort of thing. But it is very, very tart. Comments to use graham cracker crust would probably be great.
Kids and grown-ups alike loved this tart dessert after a day swimming at the lake. A perfect hot summer day dessert. Made two days in advance, transported it to the cabin (3 hour drive) in a cooler with ice but kept the crust toppers off and in the fridge until I served it. Needs the whipped cream topping to cut the tartness. The taste is like a lemon bar in pie form. Made the NY times peach pie recipe too but this one was the crowd favorite. Highly recommended for key lime pie fans.
Too tart for my family even with topping with whipped cream!
Wayyy too tart and would not recommend skipping the top crust. You really need it to cut the tartness.
I used with a (oat/GF) graham cracker crust and it worked perfectly; just left off the stars. A tremendous pain to juice 10 lemons but worth it. Incredibly tart and delicious. Great with whipped cream, too. I was skeptical of the need to strain, but when I saw the pulpy hard bits leftover I was glad I did. Will make again!
The first time I made this delicious pie, it was a real pain straining the zest out of the curd after it was thickened. This time, I mixed the juice and zest together and brought to a boil, then steeped the zest for an hour before straining the liquid. I then proceeded with the recipe. Worked great and much much easier!
I made this for our Thanksgiving dinner. I make lemon meringue pie fairly often, and this pie was surprisingly more tart and very rich. We liked it, but it was a little strong and we felt it would be improved by a meringue, whipped cream, or even a good scoop of high-quality vanilla ice cream. Instead of cutting triangles, I used leaf-shaped cookie cutters, but I, too, burned some of them. Next time I would watch them more carefully because they go from browned to burned very quickly!
The little triangles burned. Did I miss something? Either the oven temp needed to be turned down or the cooking time was too long? Anyone else experience this?
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