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It's not that this Lemon Chess Tart with Shortbread Crust doesn't look good. No, it looks just fine ........... just rather plain. But you know what? It's a major con artist! Yup, you'll see ............ take the first bite and your eyes are sure to as get wide as your taste buds are delighted with the velvety smooth, not too tart, delicious lemon filling.
And then there's the crust ............. oh my! The crust. Wow, golden-crisp, buttery and sweet; a perfect partner to the bright, fresh lemony interior. I've decided this is one of my favorite desserts ........... ever! So just go ahead and pass it by for one of the more glamorous, fancy-looking, multi-named desserts. That will suit me just fine.
I knew the minute I tasted this amazing dessert at a classic, fun little restaurant in southern Virginia, that I'd HAVE to have the recipe. It turns out that all the desserts at The Horseshoe Restaurant in South Hill, Va. are homemade daily, from scratch. And even better than that, they're all made from recipes handed down from generation to generation.
Scott Rogers, the owner of The Horseshoe, uses old family recipes for every dessert he serves in his charming little diner whose history dates back to the early 1900's. It was originally a blacksmith shop (how cool is that!) and now includes a lunch counter in the shape of a horseshoe.
It's the actual area where the horses were tethered as they were receiving their new shoes. This particular recipe came from his great Aunt. Who knows, maybe it originated from her great Aunt? I love it!
We discovered the Horseshoe Restaurant several weeks ago while exploring the South Hill area. We'd taken a long bike ride on a section of the newly completed Virginia Heritage (Rails-to-Trails) bike trail, and were quite famished. We checked with YELP* on our phones, and noticed The Horseshoe was rated quite high (four and a half stars) so we set out to find it.
We weren't disappointed, and were thrilled to find this casual diner offered gourmet burgers, sandwiches, salads and other entrees with an emphasis on local and "farm to table". It was so good we returned a couple days later and had the pleasure of meeting Scott. He pulled up a chair and, as we chatted, Scott explained how he'd been in the corporate restaurant business for years before making the decision to return to his roots (the area where he'd grown up) and open up a diner in South Hill.
Everything we sampled at Scott's nostalgic, historic little restaurant was wonderful; from a fabulous Gyro Burger made with ground lamb from a local farm, to his renowned Fried Green Tomato appetizer - served with a dollop of homemade pimento cheese and a spicy dipping sauce. Oh, and the desserts! Between the two visits we tried three amazing pies, each one delicious, presented beautifully on rectangular plates with dollops of fresh, sweet whipped cream.
I'd order all of the desserts again, but the lemon chess pie had me totally smitten. Scott promised to send me the recipe and I was delighted when I received his email. The recipe looked exactly like many of the recipe cards and scraps of paper I have from my mom; they just knew how to put food together back then and didn't need a lot of details. This is how Scott's Lemon Chess Pie recipe read:
The Horseshoe Lemon Chess Pie
6-Eggs
2 Cups Sugar
½ Cup Lemon Juice
½ Stick Butter (Melted)
¼ tsp. Cornstarch or Flour (yes, that's right - a ¼ TSP)
Dash Salt
Preheat Oven to 350
I would give you some sorta scientific order to mix it all up, but we just throw it all in the bowl and mix 'er up and pour it in a deep dish pie shell and bake 30-45 (Depending on what mood the oven is in for the day) minutes until firm in the middle and golden brown on top!!
So typical of how great cooks prepared delicious food back then! I have arranged it in a more detailed recipe format, (see below) but the bones for my Lemon Chess Tart with Shortbread Crust are exactly the same as Scott's great Aunt's recipe. I used a favorite shortbread-crust recipe of my own for the crust and baked it in a tart pan.
The crust is super easy to put together (in a food processor) and is a perfect complement to the lemon chess filling. If you're in a hurry, you could definitely use a purchased pie shell. It will still be incredible. Either way, I think you'll love it, and it very well may become a favorite at your house too!
P.S. If you're in the vicinity of South Hill, VA, be sure to visit at The Horseshoe. If you're coming down I-85, it's only about 10 minutes off the Interstate! It will be so worth it! Have a slice of lemon chess pie; but be sure to leave some for me!
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ sticks cold butter 6 ounces, cut in small pieces
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Lightly spray an 11-inch tart pan with removable bottom with cooking spray. Line a sheet pan with foil or parchment paper for easy clean up (just in case any of the filling bubbles up over the top) if desired.
-
Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse, with 10 second pulses, until dough starts to form clumps. This will take anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute. Stop as soon as the mixture clumps and turn out into a tart shell. Don't worry if it seems quite powdery at first. It will take longer than a regular pie crust dough. Just keep pulsing until it begins to clump.
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Using your fingertips, press dough evenly up sides of pan and onto the bottom.
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Prick the dough lightly with a fork.
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Cover with plastic wrap or foil and place in refrigerator for 1 hour. This will help keep the crust from shrinking when it hits a hot oven.
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Preheat oven to 425˚F.
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Remove from the refrigerator and remove plastic wrap or foil. Place tart on the prepared sheet pan and bake for 8-12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool completely before adding the filling and proceeding with directions.
- 6 large eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 2 ounces melted butter ½ stick
- ¼ teaspoon cornstarch or flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Shortbread Crust recipe above or purchased deep dish pie shell
-
Preheat oven to 350˚F
-
Combine eggs and sugar in a medium size bowl. Stir with a whisk until completely combined.
-
Add lemon juice, butter, cornstarch/flour and salt. Whisk until well combined.
-
Pour into the prepared shortbread crust (or a purchased pie shell).
-
Bake 30-40 minutes or until firm in the middle and golden brown on top
Susan says
I have made many of your recipes & loved them. My son and sister do as well. I wonder though, am I the only one that finds the pop of ads very annoying. I keep tapping the x to remove the ad and another one takes it place. I guess you need advertisers to keep the site going and making subscribers, like me, happy with recipes. I must have already said that...
Yooper Girl
Suzie says
I made this for a very dear but demanding group of friends. I followed the recipe exactly as directed, and it was a major success!
The pie was delicious, and the crust out of this world! What little I had left over, my husband ate and loved! This will certainly be a family favorite!!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Suzie, for sharing your results. I'm so happy you enjoyed it!
Marelise says
Sorry, this may be a dumb question, but are you supposed to bake the crust before adding the lemon filling or do you take it out of the fridge and add the filling on top of the raw dough? Thank you! So excited to try this.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Marelise,
Yes, you do bake it before filling. It's the last step in the crust recipe. There's actually 2 recipes in this post. The crust and the filling. You may not have seen that. Enjoy!
Mandie says
Thank you for asking I was wondering the same thing my brain was about to explode thinking I missed it somewhere.
Roblin Kastrinakis says
It’s absolutely delicious. I made it twice, the second time swapping out the lemon for passion fruit. Both times however, my crust puffed up and left little space for my filling . Is it because the temperature is too high?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Roblin, if the crust puffs up, try pressing it down with the back of a spoon as soon as it is taken out of the oven.
Susan says
1 1/2 sticks of butter is 6 oz?
1/2 stick is 2 oz?
I’m confused!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Susan, you are correct. There are 4 sticks of butter in a pound so each "stick" is 4 ounces, making 1/2 stick equal to 2 ounces.
Judy says
I recently made this for our craft group. I got a crumb! They told me that I could bring this to every potluck and NO ONE would complain. All in all, totally yummy!
Chris Scheuer says
I think you are going to have to make one of these for yourself, Judy 🙂 So happy you enjoyed it!
Judy says
Lol, it's on the menu tonight!
Lisa says
Absolutely love this pie.. Huge hit with my friends.. I'll definately be making this often!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Lisa, I'm so happy you enjoyed it!
Shellie Schultz says
Hi Chris. Thanks for this recipe. I made it this morning for Easter brunch and it was a hit. I used Meyers Lemons, so yummy. I did add about a table spoon of water to the crust. It came out fine. I will make this again.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks Shellie! I'm so happy it turned out well for you.
Elvy says
This pie is amazing!!!! I love the crust, it is perfect and the lemon filling is not too tart.. I guess I can make use this recipe as a lemon bar. Unlike other lemon desserts, I made, I can taste the bitterness. Thanks for the recipe, This will be my go to recipe and will surely be a keeper! Please share more recipes, please..
This is a five star but somehow it does not allow me to put the fill the fifth star.
Chris Scheuer says
So glad you like it Elvy! We were so excited when Scott (the owner of The Horseshoe Restaurant) shared the filling recipe with us! Welcome to The Café!
Laura Dembowski says
The restaurant sounds great and I'm glad you were able ro recreate this tart. It is so pretty and I bet the flavor is fab!
Chris Scheuer says
It really is Laura! Lots of sunny, lemony flavor and a nice crunch and sweetness in the crust!
Peggi Yacovissi says
Made your Lemon Chess Tart for our New Year's Eve celebration and it was a big hit. Thanks for sharing.
Erin says
okay..I did something wrong. Never cooked on the inside..beautiful crust and golden brown on top..complete liquid in the middle even after an hour
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Erin, sorry, not sure what could have gone wrong.
Rosanna Schutt says
I also had a runny cake. It was delicious but too buttery, oily like. Maybe we needed one more egg or less butter. I was sure I followed the recipe exactly. I also had to cook it for more than 40 minutes. It was delicious though. Did you try again?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Rosanna, I've made this tart several times with good results. I wonder if it was underbaked. Every oven is a little different and it also can vary depending on the pan you use.
CupCake says
This is amazing!! I have made this recipe as the pie and also as bars numerous times. Amazingly simple to make and tastes heavenly. I've been told I'm not invited if I don't bring these with me. Thank you for sharing.
Michelle says
I just made this tart and it was delicious! The only problem that I had was that the tart was so full with the liquid ingredients, that some of it spilled over the sides when I was putting it into the oven (my racks slant slightly when pulled out). So next time I will reserve some of the filling and then pour it into the crust once its in the oven. Its possible my crust puffed up too much and took up some of the space that the filling required.
I didn't see anywhere in your instructions if this was supposed to be served warm or cold. My guests were impatient and wanted to eat it warm. We had some chilled leftovers the next day also. It was delicious both ways! I will definitely make this again soon. Thank you!
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Michelle,
I usually serve this around room temperature but it could definitely be served cold if desired.
shelby says
This is a lovely twist! I cant wait to try it out for thanksgiving. I have a logistical hiccup however. I feel silly asking...but this is my first rodeo with a tart pan. By sheet pan, do you mean a baking sheet for like, cookies? Or a cake, with sides? Where am I putting this parchment paper? :/
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Shelby, yes a sheet pan would be also called a cookie pan. Good question. The parchment paper or foil is place on the sheet pan just for easy clean up in case any of the lemon filling bubbles up over the top. It's not absolutely necessary. Hope you enjoy this tart. It's one of our favorite desserts ever!
Helen Hay says
Hello. Greetings from New Zealand. I just came across your page and I'm drooling at your lemon tart.... I'm going to head to the supermarket shortly to buy the ingredients, can't wait. Thanks, Helen
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks Helen, hop you enjoy it. So nice to hear from you all the way from New Zealand.
Kevin Cook says
This looks amazing! I'm making it right now, actually. The only thing I noticed is that the lemon curd filling made much more than was necessary to fill the pie crust. Has anyone else encountered this? I followed the recipe exactly as-is, so I'm not quite sure why there's so much leftover (I'd say at least 1/4 cup - 1/3 cup remaining). I didn't want to flood the tart, so I left it out.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Kevin, tart pans vary a bit in depth so that might be the issue. You did the right thing. Perhaps next time you could make a little crustless tart in a small ramekin with the leftovers 🙂
Karleah says
I made this dessert last night when my husband sprung a guest on me for dinner. It was delicious and simple! I used my own tried and tested shortcrust pastry recipe and halved the sugar and found that it was plenty sweet enough. Such a lovely dessert with staples from the fridge and pantry, thanks!
Rebecca says
Thank you so much for sharing! I made this and it was amazing! The crust worked out great but I should have used a stronger spray for it not to stick 🙂 fortunately only the edges were lost. If you feel intimidated or fearful it's not anything to be afraid of 🙂 (I know I was) have fun baking 🙂
Louise says
Can the shortbread crust be made without a food processor? I gave mine to my daughter, as I hardly ever used it.
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Louise, I think it would be fine to make in a mixer. I make my regular shortbread in a mixer. You could also do it by hand but it would take awhile to get the butter mixed in.
Rebecca says
I used what I think is called a pastry mixer that is a hand powered utensil. It did take a few minutes, but it worked. Good luck with your baking. 🙂
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks Rebecca, that's good to know since I haven't tried it that way!
Donna says
Can hardly wait to make the Lemon Chess Tart w/ Shortbread Crust. I have made shortbread and it is so luscious (and I hate to say Not low fat.....but I love it)
loved the story about The Horseshoe Restaurant and the Trail. that would be a fun trip some day. i am in California so it may be a while. thanks so much for all the recipes.
Chris Scheuer says
You're absolutely welcome Donna. Thank you for stopping by The Cafe!
Sarah & Arkadi says
that crust looks amazing!
Heather says
I'm a south Virginia resident and love the Horseshoe, but I've never tried their lemon pie. I feel I must now that I've seen this blog. Thanks for visiting our area and trying the Horseshoe and the Tobacco Heritage Trail. We're very proud of our trail. It will eventually be 150 miles long. Then you can go for a really looooong bike ride and eat as much pie as your heart desires! Check out the trail on facebook "Tobacco Heritage Trail" or on the website http://www.tobaccoheritagetrail.org.
Chris Scheuer says
We loved the trail and can't wait to go back! It's wonderful!!
lenia says
what a fantastic dessert!Aromatic and tasteful!
Have a lovely week,derar Chris!
Beth says
This pie sounds fantastic! Just the kind of dessert I'd love. (And who can resist his original recipe?)
Sophia @ NY Foodgasm says
OMG Chirs this is delightful! So spring like and just WOW! I mean shortbread is sooooo good then you made it a crust and filled it with lemony custard! WOW! Need this in my life!