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A beautiful lemon tart with piles of piped meringue on top of a cake plate.
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5 from 1 vote

Lemon Meringue Tart

A stunning dessert made with a gluten-free almond-coconut crust, tangy lemon curd filling, and pillowy Italian meringue topping. Creamy, bright, and perfect for spring or special occasions. Make the filling sugar-free if desired. To serve, serve as is or torch the meringue if desired. Both are good!
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time45 minutes
Tart chilling time1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time3 hours
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8
Calories: 606kcal
Author: Sally Cameron

Equipment

Ingredients

Almond flour tart crust (directions link below)

  • 1 ½ cups superfine almond flour 6 ounces Bobs Red Mill
  • ½ cup coconut flour 2 ounces Bobs Red Mill
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
  • 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt

Lemon curd tart filling (yield 2 cups)

  • 12 large egg yolks save 3 whites for meringue
  • ¼ pound unsalted butter 8 tablespoons
  • 1 cup strained fresh lemon juice 4 large lemons
  • 1 cup + 2 tablespoons superfine sugar or 1 ½ cups powdered allulose for sugar-free
  • ½ teaspoon powdered citric acid if using Meyer lemons
  • 2 ½ sheets leaf gelatin 170 bloom or regular gelatin powder, 1 packet

Italian meringue

  • 3 large egg whites from the lemon curd, 90 grams of white.
  • ¾ cup superfine sugar
  • ¼ cup water
  • ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • 1 pinch salt

Instructions

Make the tart crust (a day ahead if desired)

  • Pre-heat oven to 350° (177 C). In a medium bowl, mix almond flour, coconut flour, sugar and melted butter with a fork until blended, then blend until completely combined with your fingers. To test, squeeze a handful together. It should hold together and feel moist.
    Dump all of the crust mix into the tart pan and begin to press in the crust starting with creating a strong edge and the bottom last. To see full tart directions and photos please follow the link at the bottom of the recipe.

Make the lemon curd filling

  • Separate your eggs, using 12 yolks for the filling and saving 3 egg whites for the meringue.
  • First bloom the gelatin. For powdered gelatin, add powder to 2 tablespoons of water, stir, and let bloom for 5-7 minutes in a small bowl. For leaf gelatin, cut the leaves in pieces and cover with cold water in a small bowl.
  • Melt butter in a 3 quart pan over medium low heat. Add the lemon juice (and citric acid if needed) and sugar or sifted allulose and whisk until smooth.
    Whisk the yolks until smooth in a medium bowl. When the butter lemon blend is hot (small bubbles around the edges of the pan), slowly drizzle it into the egg yolks whisking continually until totally incorporated. This is called tempering, so the eggs don't scramble.
  • Pour the entire mix back into the pan and cook over medium low heat, whisking continually, until you feel it thicken, 3-4 minutes. Pour the hot lemon curd through a fine sieve to catch any cooked egg bits and while hot, add the bloomed gelatin and mix until smooth.
    Cool the lemon filling 20-30 minutes before pouring into the tart shell before baking. This protects the crust and ensures a smooth, even set during baking.

Bake and cool

  • Pre-heat the oven to 325°F (conventional). Place the tart shell on the baking sheet for stability, then pour lemon curd in and bake for 15 minutes at 325°F.
  • Remove tart from oven and carefully place on a wire rack to cool when you can handle it. Filing will be fairly fluid and jiggly, not set (until it cools).
  • Let tart cool at room temperature for about 1 hour. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours or overnight for the cleanest slices.

Make meringue, pipe, and torch (optional)

  • Whip meringues to soft peaks with a hand mixer on medium high speed, adding cream of tartar at the foamy point. Whip to soft peaks, so when you turn the beaters upside down the tip drops over.
  • Make the sugar syrup. Add sugar and water to a small pan. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar syrup reaches 246°F degrees for a stiff meringue, or 240°F - 242°F for a softer more marshmallow texture meringue.
  • When sugar syrup is to the right temperature, immediately remove it from the heat and slowly pour in into the side of the bowl of meringue while whipping on high speed. Whip on high speed as the meringue cools.
    Continue whipping the meringue until glossy peaks form and to cool the meringue 5-7 minutes. Meringue is ready to use.
  • Fill a piping bag fitted with a star tip to pipe a decorative top or spoon and swirl meringue on top of the tart and arrange as you please.
    The final step if desired is to carefully use a blow torch to brown the top. Use a low flame and move the torch across the meringue until you have enough browned meringue. Don't rush this step. When done torching, it's ready to serve.
  • Slicing trick - Use a long thin slicing knife and wipe it off on paper towels or a kitchen towel between each slice for clean slices.

Notes

Tart Crust Directions
Since this lemon meringue tart includes three components, the tart crust ingredients are listed here and in the recipe card. For the step-by-step instructions, click here to see how to make the almond flour tart crust.
Nutrition calculation note - As powdered allulose is not metabolized by the body, the carb numbers should be 31 grams per serving for all of the crust, filling and meringue. 

Nutrition

Calories: 606kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 8g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 328mg | Sodium: 132mg | Potassium: 106mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 49g | Vitamin A: 986IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 89mg | Iron: 2mg