Lemon Curd Shortbread Tart

With a buttery, press-in crust and crumb topping (made from the same dough) and an easy lemon curd filling, this heavenly Lemon Curd Shortbread Tart is beyond delicious!

I'm pretty sure that this Lemon Curd Shortbread Tart is going to be my "go-to" recipe this year for spring entertaining. I say "pretty sure" because there's another recipe coming up with lemon curd (next week!), an easy lemon curd poppy seed cake, that could also be a rival. My husband is beyond crazy about this lemon curd tart but my granddaughter, Emmy, took the first bite of the poppy seed cake and declared "This is going to be my birthday cake!" (She's extremely particular about her birthday cake, usually deciding in December or January exactly what kind of cake she wants for a March birthday!) Such a dilemma; maybe they both will have to go on the "go-to" list!

The wonderful thing is that both of these recipes utilize our Ridiculously Easy Microwave Lemon Curd.

I shared the delicious lemon curd recipe in our last post and I know (from emails and comments) that some of you have already tried it. One email I received within just an hour or two of posting the recipe made me smile:

I made the curd right away and it is cooling now. However, I can't help sampling while it is on my cooling rack. Sooooo delicious!

Another was from halfway around the world:

Hello from Moorreesburg Cape Town South Africa,
Thank you for your always awesome recipes.
I was gifted a box of lemons and made Lemon Atchar but had half left. Needless to say I was absolutely delighted when I received your email containing a microwave version of Lemon Curd,  I immediately tried it and what a HIT!!

Other than the bowl it requires to make the lemon curd, this Lemon Curd Shortbread Tart is a one-bowl, no-mixer recipe with just a few simple ingredients. The shortbread dough, made from butter, sugar and flour, is used for the press-in crust as well as the delicious crumb topping. Although I don't mind getting my rolling pin out for holiday or special occasion cookies, I love a press-in crust for a quick, easy dessert.

This Lemon Curd Shortbread Tart truly is a quick and easy dessert but, at the same time, it tastes like it came from a fine bakeshop. With a crisp, shortbread crust, a silky smooth lemony filling and a mound of buttery, melt-in-your-mouth crumbs, this sweet confection is about as good as it comes. There's a scoop of almond flour in the crust/crumb mixture that gives it, what I call, that really "fine" European flavor.

One last thing. This dessert is amazing on its own. It's crazy delicious served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, but if you want to take it to a beyond delicious status, serve it either on a pool of our Ridiculously Easy Raspberry Coulis or drizzle it with the bright, fresh-tasting coulis.

As stated above, the Raspberry Coulis is one of our ridiculously easy recipes. It can be used in so many ways and adds a gourmet touch to desserts. Check out how simple it is to make:

I'm pretty sure you'll want this Lemon Curd Shortbread Tart on your "go-to" recipe list for spring entertaining. After all, spring and lemon seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly or mom and apple pie or milk and cookies... You get the picture, right? This dessert will be so lovely for brunch, lunch or dinner on the porch, patio, deck. I'm dreaming of those days now, how about you?

Café Tips for making this Lemon Curd Shortbread Tart

• Since this is a one-bowl, no-mixer crust/crumb recipe, you want your butter to be very soft. There are a number of ways to soften butter.
  • In warm weather months, just let it sit out on the counter for a few hours.
  • When it's cold outside and cool in the house, you can soften it in the oven or microwave with the light left on. (To leave the light on in a microwave, close the door partially with a small cloth over the door which will keep the door from closing all the way.)
  • Microwave the butter on low power (10% on my microwave) for 1-2 minutes, depending on the power of your microwave.
  • Microwave on high for 10-second increments, turning the butter after each increment. It will take 20-30 seconds to soften a stick of cold butter.
  • Using a microwave-safe bowl, bring a cup of water to a boil. Place the cold butter in the microwave and shut the door. The warm, steaming environment will soften the butter in 10-15 minutes.
• You'll need to make the lemon curd a few hours ahead of making this tart. It should be cooled in the refrigerator for at least an hour before adding it to the tart.
• This recipe calls for almond flour. Almond flour is simply finely ground almonds. Don't confuse it with almond meal which is also ground almonds, but a coarser grind. It won't give the same fine crust/crumbs as almond flour. Almond flour can be a bit pricey. I like to purchase it at Trader Joe's or online. If you don't use almond flour frequently, store it in the freezer. It will keep well for many months!
• The crust dough is the same as the crumb topping dough for this Lemon Curd Shortbread Tart. You'll use half of it for the crust and half for the crumb topping. Don't worry about being super accurate with this. If you're going to error on any side, I would error on using more of the dough for the topping.
• You won't use all of the lemon curd recipe for this tart. There are so many wonderful ways to use lemon curd though. Just check out the Ridiculously Easy Lemon Curd post for some ideas. Cooking Light has some other great ideas in this post.
• When pressing the dough into the pan, I like to have a small bowl of flour nearby. I dip my fingers into the flour from time to time to prevent the dough from being sticky.
• This Lemon Curd Shortbread Tart calls for a 9-inch tart pan. You could also use a 9-inch cake pan, although it won't be quite as pretty a presentation. If using a cake pan, spray it well with baking spray and line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. I love these pre-cut parchment paper circles. A package will last forever and really speeds things up when baking cakes or tarts like this lemon curd tart.
• Be sure to use a sheet pan under the tart when baking as instructed in the recipe. This is a buttery crust and there can be a little leakage from the tart pan.
• I love to serve this tart warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream and a drizzle of Raspberry Coulis.
• This dessert can be made 8-12 hours in advance. It can also be made and frozen after cooling. To serve after freezing, allow it to thaw, then warm for 10-12 minutes in a 300˚ oven.

If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear other’s results and ideas for variations.

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