Cool, creamy, and refreshing lemon blueberry tart comes together with 10 ingredients. The simple lemon filling sits in a flaky shortbread crust and is swirled with homemade blueberry sauce. After the first bite of this sweet, tangy, and buttery tart, it’s impossible to put your fork down. Enjoy this beautiful dessert for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, spring or summer celebrations, and more.
I knew a tart or pie version of our beloved lemon blueberry cake would be a hit in my household AND with many of you reading this. I’m always dreaming up ways to use this unbeatable flavor combination such as lemon blueberry muffins, glazed lemon blueberry scones, lemon blueberry babka, or lemon blueberry cupcakes. A beautiful tart with tons of fresh flavor was definitely my imagination’s top choice. I cannot wait for you to try this one.
One reader, Judy, commented: “Loved this recipe. It was creamy, tangy, and not too sweet. The shortbread crust was easy to make and came out perfectly. Looks fancy, even though it is a pretty easy recipe. I loved the extra blueberry sauce, so I will make extra next time. Definitely a keeper! ★★★★★”
Lemon Blueberry Tart Details
- Texture: I went back and forth about which type of crust to use for this lemon tart, but shortbread seemed most fitting. It’s pleasantly crumbly with a flaky texture that melts in your mouth. The crust contrasts perfectly with the creamy and lush filling on top, making this one of our favorite spring dessert recipes and Easter brunch recipes.
- Flavor: If I were to describe the taste of pure sunshine, it would definitely be this lemon blueberry tart. The lemon flavor is delightfully fresh and bright, and there’s just enough tang to complement all the sweetness. You really only need a small slice since there’s such a strong punch of flavor, but honestly I’ve never witnessed anyone stopping at 1 serving. (HA!)
- Ease: There are 3 components to the tart and each must be prepared separately, but there’s nothing really complicated about the entire process. Take your time and read through the recipe before you start.
- Time: It only takes about an hour to prep and bake the tart. But you’ll want to cool and chill it before serving, so set aside a few hours to complete the entire recipe. It’s wonderful when made the day ahead, too! Oatmeal lemon crumble bars are another excellent option for an even quicker lemony treat.
3 Parts to This Recipe
- Buttery Shortbread Crust: I make this shortbread crust with a lot of different desserts and it always reminds me of pie crust, but it’s so much easier. There’s no food processor or pastry cutter needed—instead simply combine melted butter with sugar, vanilla, salt, and flour and press into a tart pan or pie dish. You don’t even need to chill the dough before using. You’ll notice we use the same crust for our raspberry streusel bars, apple pie bars, and we double the recipe for our lemon bars. Keep in mind that these other desserts may require different oven temperatures and that’s because the desserts take longer, overall, to bake through. We bake the crust at 350°F (177°C) for this particular tart recipe.
- Lemon Filling: A lot of lemon tarts are prepared with a curd filling, but this one is thick, creamy, and rich. I use a similar lemon filling for our creamy lemon pie. I halved it for this tart, then cut down on the egg yolks. The egg yolks help the filling set, but I wanted the finished tart to remain soft. I think you’ll really love it. We’ll use only 1 egg yolk.
- Blueberry Sauce Swirl: You’ll enjoy pure blueberries without much else in the way. We hardly add any sugar to the blueberry sauce (some is needed to help them break down), so the natural flavor can really shine. Cook it on the stovetop for a few minutes, let it cool a little bit, then swirl some into the lemon filling. Feel free to strain it if you don’t want any blueberry lumps. You can use a toothpick or knife to swirl.
Can I Use a Graham Cracker Crust Instead?
A graham cracker crust will fall apart and crumble under this wet filling, so I suggest sticking with the shortbread crust for this recipe. If you wish to use a graham cracker crust, make these lemon blueberry cheesecake bars instead.
The shortbread crust dough is thick and a little greasy—don’t be nervous if it looks a little wet. Press it tightly into your pan and pre-bake it before adding the filling.
Creamy Lemon Tart Filling
You need one 14 ounce (weight) can of full-fat sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice and zest, and 1 egg yolk. That’s it. Fresh lemon juice is best. Here is a wonderful juicer if you don’t have one and if you need a recommendation for a zester, I use and love this one.
Spread the filling into the pre-baked crust.
I recommend making the blueberry sauce first so it’s ready when you need it. The recipe moves pretty quickly once you begin pre-baking the crust.
How to Make Mini Lemon Blueberry Tarts
Try using this recipe for about 10 mini tarts in mini tart pans. I don’t recommend a muffin pan for turning this recipe into mini tarts. Divide crust mixture between each mini tart pan (bake these in batches if you have less than 10), press firmly into the bottom, and bake for 8 minutes to help set the crust. It’s usually easiest to bake mini tart pans on a larger baking sheet. No need to poke holes in the crust before adding the filling as directed for the full size tart below. Pour filling into warm crusts, drop a few tiny spoonfuls of blueberry sauce on each, then swirl as directed below. Bake for 9-10 minutes or just until the centers no longer jiggle. Cool completely, then chill for at least 1 hour before removing from tart pans and serving. (Or serve in tart pans.)
Lemon Blueberry Tart Variations
If you want to switch up some flavors, be our guest! Here are the variations we tested. We’re unsure of the results outside of these listed changes, so let us know if you try anything else.
- Lime Tart: Switch the lemon juice and zest for lime juice and zest. Feel free to keep the blueberry swirl or skip it. You could also use the strawberry, raspberry, or blackberry swirl.
- Strawberry Swirl: Replace blueberries with 1 cup chopped fresh or frozen strawberries. You can’t really detect the strawberry seeds in the baked tart, but feel free to strain the sauce through a fine mesh sieve before swirling into the filling.
- Raspberry or Blackberry Swirl: Replace blueberries with 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries or blackberries and add 1 more teaspoon of sugar to the sauce (for a total of 3 teaspoons). Strain the finished sauce through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds before swirling into the filling.
- We haven’t tested other citrus besides lime or lemon. We do not recommend swapping the lemons for orange zest/juice because the tart will be very, very sweet. You really need the tang from lemons or limes. We haven’t tested this recipe with grapefruit.
See Your Lemon Blueberry Tarts!
Many readers tried this recipe as part of a baking challenge! Feel free to email or share your recipe photos with us on social media. 🙂
Print
Lemon Blueberry Tart
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours (includes chilling)
- Yield: serves 8-10
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
There are 3 parts to this creamy lemon blueberry tart and each are prepared separately before bringing them all together. For best success, take your time and read through the recipe before starting.
Ingredients
Blueberry Sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice (or water)
- 1 cup (140g) fresh or frozen blueberries (do not thaw)
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
Shortbread Crust
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
Filling
- 1 (14 ounce weight) can full-fat sweetened condensed milk
- 6 Tablespoons (90ml) lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest (1 lemon)
- 1 large egg yolk
Optional Garnishes
- Lemon slices, blueberries, leftover blueberry sauce, whipped cream
Instructions
- Blueberry Sauce: Using a fork, mix the cornstarch and lemon juice together in a small bowl until the cornstarch has dissolved. Set aside. Warm the blueberries and sugar together in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally for 3 minutes, mashing the blueberries as best you can against the bottom and sides of the pan to help break them up. Stir in the cornstarch mixture. Cook for 2 more minutes as the sauce thickens, stirring and mashing the blueberries to break them up as desired. Remove sauce from heat and set aside at room temperature until step 6. Makes about 1/2 – 2/3 cup blueberry sauce and you’ll use about half for the swirl. (Reserve extra for garnish/serving.)
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Crust: Mix the melted butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt together in a medium bowl. Add the flour and stir to completely combine. The dough will be a little greasy and very thick. Using a silicone spatula or your hands, press dough firmly into a 9-inch tart pan (no need to grease it), making sure the layer of crust is even on the bottom and all around the sides. It may seem like it won’t fit, but it will. You can use the bottom of a measuring cup to pack the crust in too, but sometimes it sticks.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges are very lightly browned. Remove from the oven. Using a fork, poke a few holes all over the top of the warm crust (not all the way through the crust). This helps the filling stick.
- Filling: Whisk all of the filling ingredients together until combined. Pour into warm crust. Stir up the blueberry sauce because it has likely thickened. It can still be warm when you use it in this step. If it’s too thick, warm it in the microwave for 5-10 seconds. Drop spoonfuls of blueberry sauce all over the top, using about half of the sauce. Reserve the rest of the sauce for serving. Using a toothpick or knife, gently swirl the sauce and filling together. Shimmy the pan back and forth 2-3 times to let the sauce and filling settle down into the crust a bit.
- Bake for 17-19 minutes, just until the center of the tart no longer jiggles when you give the pan a light tap. It will still be a little sticky on top. Avoid over-baking because the tart will taste rubbery. (Tip: Err on the side of under-baking because the filling also has a chance to set up in the refrigerator. You want a creamy soft filling.)
- Remove tart from the oven and place on a cooling rack. Cool completely at room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator uncovered for at least 2 hours and up to 1 day. If chilling for longer than 2 hours, cover it. After chilling, remove the sides of the tart pan if your pan has removable sides.
- Slice and serve with optional garnishes including any leftover blueberry sauce.
- Cover leftovers tightly and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can bake, cool, and chill the tart 1 day in advance. See step 7. The filling must be poured on a warm crust so it will stick, so I don’t recommend pre-baking the crust ahead of time. You can prepare the filling and blueberry sauce in advance though. Cover both and refrigerate until ready to use. The blueberry filling will be quite solid after refrigerating, so warm it up on the stove or in the microwave until thinned out again. (It can be warm when you swirl it into the filling.) Baked and cooled tart freezes well up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before serving.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silicone Spatula | 9-inch Tart Pan | Cooling Rack
- Tart Pan: A 9-inch tart pan with or without removable sides (it doesn’t matter) is ideal for this recipe. If you use other size tart pans, the bake times and thickness of the tart will differ. You can also use a 9-inch pie dish, but slicing the tart isn’t quite as neat. The bake times are the same. For mini tart pans, see post above. I don’t recommend a springform pan because the crust leaks. We haven’t tested this recipe in a round cake pan or as bars.
- Blueberry Sauce: If you don’t want blueberry lumps in your tart, feel free to run the blueberry sauce through a fine mesh sieve.
- Sweetened Condensed Milk: Make sure you are using sweetened condensed milk, not evaporated milk. There are no successful replacements for sweetened condensed milk in this particular recipe– it’s really the key ingredient. (Sometimes half-and-half or heavy cream works as a substitution, but then you’ll have to test with varying amounts of sugar since both are unsweetened.) Use one 14 ounce can full-fat sweetened condensed milk. Do not use fat free because the tart will not set. Keep in mind that 14 ounces is the listed weight on the can. 1 standard 14 ounce can is a little over 1 liquid cup.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Can the crust be doubled?
Hi Abbie, you can double the crust in order to make two tarts or use a larger tart pan. Doubling the crust for one tart pan would likely be too thick and not leave enough room for the filling. Hope this helps!
This recipe was delicious. It does take some time to make but the reward is great. The crust is buttery and the filling tastes amazing, the blueberry sauce really elevates the tart. I did encounter one hurdle with this recipe the crust ingredients’ quantities were too small and the crust didn’t fit my 9-inch round tart tin, I had to double the quantities for the crust to fit my tart tin. Other than that small hiccup I loved this recipe so doable yet so delicious.
Absolutely delicious! I just divided the recipe by 4 and made 2 mini tarts for me and my roommate. It’s actually not that hard to measure 1/4 of an egg yolk if you have a kitchen scale!
My first tart! Made it for a family get together and they were blown away. My dad commented that it was high end restaurant dessert worthy! Easy recipe with very impressive results.
This tart was a huge hit for Easter!! Perfectly sour and sweet. Thank you!!
This is a delicious dessert! I made it for the second time this Easter and wanted to share a substitution that worked for me, in case anybody needs it: I only had fat free sweetened condensed milk in my pantry, so I used three egg yolks instead of one. All else the same. It set up beautifully and was just as delicious as last time, when I used full fat.
This tart was delicious and couldn’t have been any easier.
So good! I loved this pie! Delicious with whipped cream on top 🙂 A tad bit crumbly for me though.
Hi Sally, I’m curious as to why you don’t roll out the crust. Is it too sticky or wet?
Hi Pam! This crust isn’t like a traditional pie crust that requires rolling. The extra buttery, shortbread-like texture lends itself much better to simply pressing into the pan.
Gotch ya! And thanks for your incredibly fast reply. I’m going to try this for Easter dinner dessert. Thanks again! 🙂
How about sweet condensed coconut milk? Would that be a nice thing to try?
Hi Eva! We haven’t tested it, but other bakers have reported making this tart successfully with sweetened condensed coconut milk. Let us know if you give it a try!
This tart was amazing! I loved the filling, super creamy and luscious. Could you substitute the blueberries for raspberries?
Hi Lauren! Definitely. See the section titled “Lemon Blueberry Tart Variations” just above the recipe in the blog post. Hope it’s a hit!
Hi….I have lots of frozen blackberries….can I use these instead of blueberries ?
Hi Diane, absolutely — you can use blackberries in place of the blueberries.
This is a great recipe, although if you follow it as directed it will not be enough to fill a 9” tart. Trust me, double the recipe and make a few mini tarts with the extra.
I really want to make this, but I only have a 10 inch tart pan. Will that work? What adjustments should I make?
Hi Barb, We haven’t tested this in a 10 inch pan. The tart will be thinner but it should still work. Let us know if you give it a try!
No exaggeration, I have made this recipe three times over the last few weeks because it just doesn’t last. It doesn’t take a ton of ingredients, it is very easy to make and the final product looks and tastes AMAZING. I love all of the recipes on this site but this one is easily top 5 for me.
I made this recipe for my husband and he loved it! He wanted more! It got me wondering if this tart could be converted into a pie for the sake of a deeper dish with more filling. Do you know how that would change things? Different bake time? Different oven temperature?
Hi Shirley! Here’s our creamy lemon pie with the same filling – you can add this blueberry swirl to that recipe!
This is AMAZING! love it. will definitely make again.
This recipe tasted delicious! However, the crust stuck pretty bad to my ceramic pie pan after baking. I followed the recipe exactly and even refrained from greasing the pan since the recipe said not to- could it have stuck because of the ceramic material?
Hi Katie, Thank you for trying this recipe. We have never had a problem with this crust sticking because there is so much butter in it. It’s very possible that it was simply your pan. If you wish to try it again you can give it a very light spray with non stick spray or line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper.
This tart recipe was so easy, delicious and beautiful. Thank you for the perfectly wonderful recipe!
I would love to try this recipe, however, I can only get low fat sweetened condensed milk where I live.
Is there a way to make that work, like maybe adding some melted butter to the batter…?
Hi Miriam, unfortunately, you really need full fat sweetened condensed milk for this recipe to see up properly.
You could try adding an extra egg yolk or two to help it set up. It’s what I do for key lime pie when I can’t find whole milk sweetened condensed milk.
I made this and love it. I may make an extra half batch of filling next time to fill tarte pan better.
My Question.. can I freeze it after it is complete? It is big for us and would love to pull-out of freezer as needed.
Hi Fran, You can freeze the baked and cooled tart. See recipe notes for details.
I had sworn off ever making tarts again, because they’re so finicky. I’m so glad I made an exception for this! It is so easy to make and absolutely DELICIOUS. New favorite!
Love this recipe! I’ve done lemon/blackberry, grapefruit/raspberry, lemon/blueberry, and grapefruit/cherry…. hands down best recipe ever!!! The perfect crust, perfect tang, and perfect sweetness. Thank you!
This recipe turned out amazing! The refreshing flavor of the lemon and the sweet blueberries had me going back for another forkful every time! For some reason though, I had to make a double batch of the crust to cover my 9-inch pan completely. Otherwise another great and easy to make recipe! Enjoyed by everyone. Thanks Sally! 🙂
Luscious, sweet with just enough tartness, and a beautiful looking tart that I made for my mom’s birthday thanks to your help! Love all your recipes that are clear and easily understandable for this novice.
This tart is SOOOOO good!!!!! I my husband and I New favorite of all desserts!!!
Can one use evaporated milk instead of condensed milk? Thanks
Hi Sunitha! No, you really need sweetened condensed milk for this recipe to see up properly.
Hi Sally,
I’m making this tart right now and followed your directions exactly. The problem is that perhaps my mini tart pans are larger than the ones you used? I measured the crust on a scale and divided equally into 8 mini tart pans and there was barely enough crust and filling to only fill 8. There’s no way this recipe would produce 10 mini tarts. I think 5 or 6 is a more realistic quantity. They are cooking now. I’m confident that they will be delicious, just a little skimpy in size.
Hi Joo Min! Mini tart pans can vary in size, the ones we suggest and link to are 4 inches in diameter. Hope you still love them!
I made this from a recipe that used olive oil in lieu of butter. Am i imagining that the recipe had olive oil? Just wondering if it was posted once with olive oil in the ingredients. It is definitely delicious and everyone loved it!
Hi Sally,
I love this lemon tart. Such a crowd pleaser and so simple! Is there any way it could be made into a chocolate tart? I.e. Mix in Cocoa powder and a bit of liquid espresso instead of lemon? Then with Raspberry sauce? Looking forward to your reply!
Thanks so much,
Natalie
Hi Natalie, We haven’t made this exact recipe with chocolate, but you may enjoy this chocolate tart or even this Nutella tart instead. Let us know if you give either a try!
The recipe was fabulous but I could only make 6 of the 10 mini tarts meaning I have a lot of filling leftover. Any suggestions as to what I should do with it other than make more tarts?
Hi Jay, We haven’t tried this, but if you are making pancakes, you could try mixing the leftover filling into your batter for lemon pancakes.
This is by far the BEST dessert I have ever made. I absolutely loved it, as did my family. Thank you so much for your easy to follow instructions, but mostly for the delicious desserts!
Hi Peggy, We are so glad to hear that you loved this!
I made this again yesterday to take to a dinner party and it was a hit. Elegant, but simple to make