French Lemon Cream Tart (Gluten-free)

French lemon cream tart is a sophisticated and elegant lemon dessert made with a flourless coconut dacquoise, tangy lemon cream, and beautiful Italian meringue. No flour, no crust, just pure indulgence.

This lemon cream tart (Tarte à la crème de citron in French) is quite unusual. You will be thrilled to discover that there is no need for laborious tart shell preparation.

Forget making traditional shortcrust pastry by sweating at rolling the tart dough, pressing it into a tart pan, and baking it with pie weights. This unique crustless lemon tart offers a delightful twist.

Lemon tart topping is made with pure lemon juice and has such a soft texture that you will be impressed while making it.

The tart is pipped with Italian meringue that is safe to eat, alternated with lemon cream, and sprinkled with lime zest.

You might also like other lemon desserts like Lemon Curd Cake, French lemon tart, or lemon poppy seed bars.

Lemon cream tart recipe

• It is a simple tart recipe, easy peasy to make.

• The creamy lemon tart topping has a perfect balance with the sweet meringue. It is ideal for filling delicious pastries like French cream puffs, chouquettes, and eclairs.

• Flourless lemon tart is a gluten-free dessert.

• It is very refreshing and is perfect for finishing a heavy meal.

Ingredients

For ingredients and detailed instructions, refer to the recipe card below.

• Eggs: Use large whole eggs and egg whites at room temperature. To make the meringue, use pasteurized egg whites to serve the tart for kids, pregnant women, or if you are concerned about salmonella bacteria in raw eggs.

Pro tip: Please, read on how to pasteurize eggs at home.

• Sugar: To make a coconut dacquoise, use caster sugar or process granulated sugar with a food processor to make it superfine. To make the meringue, use any white sugar.

• Lemon juice: Make it yourself using a citrus juicer. Avoid using bottled lemon juice that is incredibly sour, tart, and sometimes even bitter. Fresh lemon juice is essential to make lemon cream.

• Gelatin: You will need a ½ gelatin sheet with a strength of 200 bloom.

• Butter: The recipe calls for softened unsalted butter. Take it out of the fridge 1 to 2 hours before you start.

• Lime and lemon zest: use untreated citrus to make the zest with a zester grater.

• Shredded coconut is the base of coconut dacquoise.

• Almond flour is another dacquoise ingredient to make the tart's base.

How to make French lemon cream tart

Step 1. To make the lemon cream, get fresh lemon juice using a citrus juicer. Soak half of the gelatin sheet in cold water for 10 minutes.

Step 2. Pour lemon juice, add sugar, drained gelatin, lemon zest (from 3 lemons), and eggs in a small saucepan and mix.

Step 3. Heat the egg mixture over medium heat to 185°F (85°C), constantly stirring - use an instant-read thermometer (photo 1). Pass the preparation through a fine-mesh sieve to get the zests.

Step 4. Cover the lemon mixture with plastic film in contact and let it cool. When the preparation is about 113°F (45°C), add the softened butter little by little and mix it with a rubber spatula (photo 2).

Step 5. Cover the cream with a piece of plastic wrap in contact and refrigerate overnight.

Step 6. To make coconut dacquoise, preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C). Butter an 8-inch (20 cm) cake ring and place it on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Step 7. In a bowl, mix almond flour and coconut and set aside. Using a stand or electric mixer, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff.

Step 8. Gradually add caster sugar to get a glossy meringue (photo 3). Using the spatula, gently incorporate the dry mixture in two batches (photo 4).

Step 9. Transfer the preparation to a pastry bag with Ateco plain pastry tip 809 or a cut tip and push a spiral into the cake ring (photo 5).

Step 10. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes (photo 6). Let cool on a wire rack.

Step 11. To make Italian meringue, whisk egg whites with a stand or electric mixer until they are foamy.

Step 12. Pour water into a stainless steel bowl, add sugar, and heat to 250°F (121°C), checking it with a cooking thermometer.

Step 13. Slowly pour the hot sugar syrup into the egg whites, constantly whisking. Beat the meringue until it is cooled down (photo 7).

Step 14. To assemble the tart, place coconut dacquoise on a serving platter or a cake board. Transfer the meringue to a pastry bag with Ateco plain pastry tip 809.

Step 15. Pipe large balls on the dacquoise in a circular pattern, skipping a "spot" that will be filled with the cream. Using a hand-held blow torch, brown the meringue until slightly brown.

Step 16. Place lemon cream in a pastry bag fitted with Ateco plain pastry tip 809 and pipe large drops between the piped meringue balls. Press on the pastry bag, then lift to obtain the drops (photo 8).

Step 17. Using a Microplane, zest the lime over the tart. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Expert Tips

1. Use pasteurized egg whites if you are concerned about raw eggs.
2. Pipe the meringue and lemon cream filling in staggered rows or any pattern you prefer.
3. Decorate the tart with slices of candied lemon if desired.
4. To omit meringue, double the creamy filling and pipe it over the tart. Decorate it with small store-bought meringues and lime zest.
5. To make a 9-inch tart or a more extensive crowd pleaser, use this simple cake pan converter to re-calculate the ingredients.
6. Make-ahead option: Prepare the lemon cream and bake a coconut dacquoise one day in advance. Keep the tart's base in an airtight container overnight. The next day, assemble the tart and serve.

Storing and freezing

Store creamy lemon tart in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. It is not recommended to freeze any part of the dessert.

Recipe FAQ

Love pies and tarts? Try these next!

• French Strawberry Tart
• Plum Frangipane Tart
• Strawberry Pistachio Tart
• French Pumpkin Pie
• Or browse all the tart recipes

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Recipe card

The nutritional information has been calculated using an online recipe nutrition calculator such as Verywellfit.com and is intended for informational purposes only. These figures should be used as a general guideline and not be construed as a guarantee.

The recipe was adapted from www.notretemps.com. It was originally published on May 07, 2018. The recipe has been revised to include improved content and photos.