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This layered, summery blueberry-lemon tart is as stunning as it is delicious. Naturally sweetened, this tart recipe features a vibrant lemon curd layer followed by a perfectly-sweetened blueberry filling.

Table of Contents

Where the Recipe is From

I’ve had my nose stuck in the new America’s Test Kitchen cookbook, Naturally Sweet: Bake All Your Favorites with 30% to 50% Less Sugar (America’s Test Kitchen) since mid-July when I received it from America’s Test Kitchen.

This Blueberry–Lemon Curd Tart caught my eye from the very beginning; I kept getting drawn back to its stunning colors and striking layers. And although it takes a few hours to make, it’s fairly easy to prepare and is so refreshingly delicious, delightfully tart, and perfectly sweetened.

Honey is used in both the lemon and blueberry layers, pairing well with both fruits. Sucanat is used in the tart crust and offers a deep sweetness with just a touch of molasses.

Having interned at ATK during the summer of 2014, I knew this book, like all of their others, was going to be amazing. Packed full of both classics and new favorites, this book of foolproof recipes was bound to deliver. And did it ever!

Not only is each recipe developed using only natural sweeteners; they are also developed to be lower in sugar content (30-50% lower than their traditional counterparts). And honestly, I was a bit skeptical about the book before I received it.

I assumed that if the recipes were lower in sugar they must be calling for sweeteners like Splenda, Stevia, or Monkfruit; sweeteners I would rather not use due to their flavor and extensive processing.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that wasn’t the case, which makes these recipes that much more impressive. The editors at ATK had to completely re-think the baking and cooking process of recipes utilizing sugar.

Blueberry lemon tart with yellow and purple layers, set on a gray plate on top of a marble surface.

Baking with Natural Sweeteners

To really understand the extent of this recipe development it’s important to know how sugar affects different recipes, specifically in baked goods. Sugar is not only used for sweetness, it is largely used for structure, texture, and color, just to name a few.

When creating a low-sugar baked good, one cannot simply decrease the amount of sugar used because the structure and crumb will greatly suffer if other ingredients or processes are not modified.

Likewise, natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup, or Sucanat cannot simply be swapped out for granulated sugar in baking due to various melting points, moisture contents, and absorption capabilities. Thus, ingredient ratios and processes were completely reanalyzed for this book.

As you work your way through Naturally Sweet, the editors at ATK walk you through their thought and development processes, and explain why the recipes were developed in the way they were.

They take note of what tasters liked and disliked, give justifications for which sweetener they used, and explain what conventional cooking and baking processes they had to rethink.

This book challenges those hard-fast laws of baking and cooking, giving us cooks the courage and power to question our habits in the kitchen.

After all, isn’t that the beauty of cooking? Isn’t that the art of it? Unlike many aspects of our lives, the rules in cooking are meant to be challenged, pushed, and broken.

How to Make a Tart Crust

This is my favorite tart crust recipe! I use it in my Pear Tart and Lemon Tart in addition to this Blueberry Lemon.

Butter cubes on top of flour in a food processor.
Crumbly tart dough scattered on a marble surface.
Tart dough, patted into a disk, on top of a marble surface.
Photograph of dough placed in a tart pan set on a marble table.
Photograph of an unbaked tart shell in a tart pan set on a marble table.
Tart pan lined with baked tart crust set on top of a marble surface.
  1. Pulse dry ingredients together, scatter butter over top and pulse until a coarse meal is formed. Add yolk and cream mixture and pulse until a dough comes together.
  2. Turn dough out onto a work surface
  3. Form dough into a disk and wrap tightly with plastic wrap; chill 1 hour.
  4. Roll dough out then press into bottom of pan and up sides; freeze until form, about 30 minutes.
  5. Blind bake crust until starting to brown and dry to the touch. To blind bake, line the unbaked tart crust with foil, fill with baking weights (or beans) and bake.

How to Make Homemade Lemon Curd

Photograph of a saucepan with with eggs, lemon juice and lemon zest whisked together in
Photograph of an instant-read thermometer measuring the temperature of lemon curd being cooked
Photograph of diced butter being added to a saucepan with lemon curd
Photograph of lemon curd being strained through a fine-mesh sieve.
Photograph of cream being whisked into lemon curd
Photograph of lemon curd and whisk in a clear glass bowl
  1. use fresh lemon juice and zest
    It’s absolutely necessary to use fresh lemon juice. The fresh tart flavor is incomparable to the bottled stuff. It’s also important to use fresh lemon zest—yes, ¼ cup is the correct amount. You’ll strain it out before serving, so don’t worry, you won’t be picking zest out of your teeth.
  2. cook the lemon curd
    Whisk yolks, egg, honey, lemon zest, lemon juice, and salt together in a saucepan until smooth. Cook lemon curd mixture over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until mixture has reached 165-degrees and mixture has thickened, this should take 5 to 8 minutes.
    Using an instant-read thermometer takes all the guesswork out of making lemon curd (and candy, meat, fish, etc.) This is my all-time favorite instant-read thermometer. 
  3. remove from heat and stir in the butter
    Remove saucepan from heat and stir in butter until melted. The butter is important for adding flavor and creating a silky smooth texture. Be sure to use unsalted butter!
  4. strain the curd
    This step is important for two reasons. First, it strains out all of the zest we added at the beginning. And secondly, it acts as a failsafe by straining out any specks of cooked egg (occurs when the mixture is heated too quickly without being agitated or stirred).
  5. stir in the cream
    Adding just a splash of cream creates a silky smooth, luscious curd. The addition of cream to homemade lemon curd is not traditional and can easily be left out but it is delicious.
Tart pan lined with baked tart crust and filled with lemon curd set on top of a marble surface.

Tips for Making the Perfect Lemon Blueberry Tart

  • Be sure to use a 9-inch round tart pan. If you use a smaller pan you’ll end up having too much filling, and if you use a larger pan you won’t have enough filling.
  • Use eggs labeled as “large.” This is essential as it will determine how much lemon curd you end up with.
  • Make sure you strain the lemon curd before pouring it into the tart. This will strain out the bits of lemon zest. The zest has already imparted all of its flavor into the curd and by straining it you’ll get a super smooth curd.
Tart slices, with yellow and purple layers, set on top of a marble surface.

Blueberry–Lemon Curd Tart

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4.35 from 164 votes
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Chilling + Cooling Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 5 hours
Yield 8 servings, 1 (9-inch) tart
Category Dessert
Cuisine French
Author Lauren Grant

Description

This layered, summery tart is as stunning as it is delicious. Naturally sweetened, this tart recipe features a vibrant lemon curd layer followed by a perfectly-sweetened blueberry filling.

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Ingredients

Classic Tart Crust 

Lemon Curd

  • ¼ cup lemon zest + ½ cup juice (from 4 lemons)
  • 1 large egg + 5 large yolks
  • ⅓ cup honey
  • Kosher salt
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces and chilled
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Blueberry Layer

  • 10 ounces (2 cups) blueberries
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • ¼ cup honey

Instructions

Crust

  • Whisk 1 egg yolk, 1 tablespoon cream, and ½ teaspoon vanilla together in bowl. Process 1 ¼ cups flour, ⅓ cup confectioners' sugar, and ¼ teaspoon salt in food processor until combined, about 5 seconds. Scatter 8 tablespoons chilled butter over top and pulse until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, about 15 pulses. With process running, add egg yolk mixture and process until dough just comes together, about 12 seconds.
  • Form dough into 6-inch disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 4 days.
  • Let chilled dough sit on counter to soften slightly, about 10 minutes. Roll dough into 11-inch circle on lightly floured counter. Loosely roll dough around rolling pin and gently unroll it onto 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom, letting excess dough hang over edge. Ease dough into pan by gently lifting edge of dough with your hand while pressing into corners and fluted sides of pan with your other hand. Run rolling pin over top of pan to remove any excess dough.
  • Wrap dough-lined pan loosely in plastic, place on large plate, and freeze until dough is chilled and firm, about 30 minutes.
  • Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375ºF. Set dough-lined tart pan on baking sheet, line with double layer of aluminum foil, covering edges to prevent burning, and fill with pie weights.
  • Bake until crust is golden brown and set, about 30 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Remove weights and foil and let crust cool.

Lemon Curd

  • Adjust oven rack to middle position and reduce oven heat to 350ºF.
  • Measure out 1 tablespoon lemon juice and set aside for the blueberry layer later.
  • Whisk remaining 7 tablespoons lemon juice, ¼ cup lemon zest, 1 egg, 5 yolks, ⅓ cup honey, and pinch salt in medium saucepan until smooth. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with rubber spatula, until mixture thickens slightly and registers 165ºF, about 5 minutes.
  • Off heat, whisk in 4 tablespoons chilled butter until melted. Strain lemon curd through fine-mesh strainer into bowl, then gently stir in 2 tablespoons cream with rubber spatula.
  • Pour warm lemon curd into cooled tart crust. Set tart on baking sheet and bake until filling is shiny and opaque and center jiggles slightly when shaken, 10–12 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Transfer tart with baking sheet to wire rack and let cool slightly.

Blueberry Layer

  • Meanwhile, process 2 cups blueberries in a food processor until smooth, about 2 minutes. Strain purée through clean fine-mesh strainer into medium saucepan, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible (you should have about ¾ cup); discard solids.
  • Whisk in remaining ¼ cup honey and ⅛ teaspoon salt. Whisk together 2 tablespoons cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water in a small bowl, then whisk into strained blueberry mixture. Bring to simmer over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, and cook until thickened slightly and registers 170ºF, about 4 minutes. Off heat, whisk in reserved 1 tablespoon lemon juice.
  • Pour blueberry mixture evenly over cooled lemon filling. Tap pan lightly on counter to release any air bubbles, then refrigerate until blueberry mixture is set and shiny, about 2 hours.
  • To serve, remove outer ring of tart pan, slide thin metal spatula between tart and tart pan bottom, and carefully slide tart onto serving patter or cutting board.

Notes

Original: 42 grams sugar New Recipe: 27 grams sugar
*to naturally sweeten the tart crust, use sucanat or coconut sugar. Use ¼ cup sucanat or coconut sugar and grind it into a fine powder in a spice grinder. Use as directed in the recipe. If you use coconut sugar the crust will come out darker and slightly less sweet. 
Dough Make Ahead Tip: Dough can be wrapped tightly in plastic and refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 1 month. If frozen, let dough thaw completely on counter before rolling.
Dough Make Ahead Tip: Dough-lined tart pan can be wrapped tightly in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.
If you’re using this tart crust recipe for a different tart that calls for a fully-cooked tart crust continue baking, uncovered, for an additional 5-10 minutes until deeply golden brown.
The size of your eggs matter! This recipe was developed using eggs labeled and sold as Large. If you use smaller eggs your filling yield will be shy of what you need for a 9-inch tart. If you use too large of eggs, you will have too much filling and the flavors will be slightly dulled. As a reference: 1 large egg = 50 grams (without shell).

Nutrition

Serving: 1 sliceCalories: 420kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 6gFat: 23gSaturated Fat: 13gSodium: 150mgFiber: 2gSugar: 27g
Like this? Leave a comment below!I love hearing from you and I want to hear how it went with this recipe! Leave a comment and rating below, then share on social media @zestfulkitchen and #zestfulkitchen!
Tart slices, with yellow and purple layers, set on top of a marble surface.

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I received a copy of Naturally Sweet: Bake All Your Favorites with 30% to 50% Less Sugar (America’s Test Kitchen) from America’s Test Kitchen, this recipe is used with their permission. This post contains affiliate links.

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About The Author

Lauren Grant is a professional culinary food scientist, food writer, recipe developer, and food photographer. Lauren is a previous magazine editor and test kitchen developer and has had work published in major national publications including Diabetic Living Magazine, Midwest Living Magazine, Cuisine at Home Magazine, EatingWell.com, AmericasTestKitchen.com, and more.

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Comments

  1. Hi, in a process of making this delicious tart. One question, can I use ceramic pie form?

    Thank you!

    Reply

    1. Hi Daria!

      I recommend using a tart pan for ease of getting it out of the pan and for serving. However, you can definitely make it in a ceramic pie plate, just make sure to keep the edges of the crust somewhat short like a tart.

      Reply

    1. Hey Emily! Great question! I would 1.5 X the recipe. You may have a little extra of each component but this will ensure you have enough dough to fill the pan and enough filling!

      Reply

  3. Hi! This recipe looks amazing!
    I’m just wondering, in the picture the top of the tart looks powdery and not shiny like the layer cross-section; is there something on top of the blueberry layer?

    Reply

    1. Hi Olivia! Great question, that powdery look is simply due to light reflecting off the top of the tart. There’s nothing on top of the blueberry layer, but you could certainly dust it with some confectioners’ sugar! Hope that helps! 🙂

      Reply

    1. Hi Johnny! I haven’t tried to make 5-inch tarts with this recipe but here is what I would do:
      – decrease the bake time of the crust to about 20 minutes (still blind bake them for some of the time), give or take 5 minutes, just keep an eye on them.
      – bake the lemon curd layer for 5 minutes, then check on them, add more bake time in 2 minutes increments if needed.

      Since this is a 9-inch tart, you’ll likely only get two 5-inch tarts with these measurements, so I would double or triple the ingredients as needed. If you do end up doubling the recipe, you may need to cook the lemon curd and blueberry layer on the stove top a few minutes longer.

      Use these bake times I’ve suggested as that, just suggestions. I would rely more on the descriptions I give in the recipe. If after 5 minutes in the oven the lemon curd is still pretty jiggly, give it a few more minutes.

      I hope this helps, let me know how they turn out, I am very interested!!

      Reply

  5. Wow!! I used the the tart shell and filling recipes to make mini tarts last night and they turned out better than I could’ve ever imagined. The tartness of the lemon curd is balanced perfectly by the sweet blueberry. LOVE this recipe. Will 100% make again.

    Reply

    1. Hi Dylan!

      For the crust, instead of using sucanat, I would use 1/3 cup confectioners’ sugar. It will turn out a little lighter in color, but other than that, it should be nearly the same.

      For the lemon curd, you can use 3/4 cup regular sugar instead of the honey. I haven’t tested the blueberry layer with regular sugar instead of honey, but if you like things sweet you could use 1/4 cup sugar instead of the honey, or for a more mildly sweet layer use 3 Tbsp. sugar.

      Let me know how it turns out with regular sugar!

      Reply

  9. I just tried this recipe today and it was delicious! I am not an experienced baker, so it was a little hard for me (a lot more steps than a cake out of a box) , but it still turned out delicious.

    Reply

    1. I’m so glad you gave it a try Gabby! There are a lot of steps—but hopefully now that you’ve made it, it will be easier next time!!

      Reply

  10. Hi I have made this recipe and it was amazing, fruit and tart, pastry was perfect!
    I was wondering would the top layer work using raspberries instead of blueberries?
    @zestfulkitchen

    Thanks Laura

    Reply

    1. Hi Laura! I think the top layer would definitely work using raspberries! There’s enough pectin in raspberries that I don’t think you’ll need to alter the cornstarch amount at all. Let me know how it goes, I bet it will be gorgeous!

      Reply

  11. If you’re doubling, watch the amounts in the text of the recipe. They don’t change automatically! My 2x lemon curd only had 1/3 cup of honey, very zippy curd :p

    Reply

  12. 5 stars
    Oh wow! I was so intimidated to make this but it actually ended up being a lot easier than I expected. I made the crust on Friday night and finished the rest of it Saturday afternoon. Served that evening with some fresh blueberries. It was a hit! thank you!

    Reply

    1. Hi Carli! I’m so happy to hear it was easier than expected! The long instructions can look intimidating! Great idea to make it over a few days—makes the process much more manageable!

      Reply

  13. If you wanted to add a layer of whole blueberries on top of this how and when would you recommend you do that?

    Reply

    1. Hi Michael, great question! I would arrange a single layer of blueberries over the blueberry mixture right after it’s been added to the tart. (Tap the tart lightly against the counter right after adding the blueberry mixture to release air bubbles, then arrange the blueberries over top.) This way the blueberries will slightly set into the blueberry layer as it chills. Let me know how it goes!

      Reply

  14. Hi Lauren,

    I am dying to make this but I am shopping for a tart tin and I cannot seem to find one 9” with the removable bottom and short height! I have access to a 9.5” one, do you think any small adjustments could be made in order to work a 9.5” or a 10” pan?

    Reply

    1. Hey Dani,

      Great question (and apologies for my delay)! If you can’t find a 9-inch I would go for the 9.5-inch or (if you can find it) and 8-inch. If you go for the 9.5 or 10-inch, I would consider one and a half timesing the tart crust recipe, just to make sure you can cover the entire pan with an adequate thickness of crust. Otherwise, just keep in the mind the filling may be a bit thinner!
      I hope that helps.

      Reply

    1. Hi Christina, great question! Yes, frozen blueberries will work great. Just be sure to thaw them fully before using them. Let me know how it goes!

      Reply

  16. I was looking for a recipe, but all I found was a bunch of ads. Even the “JUMP TO RECIPE” button just jumps you to an ad!

    Reply

    1. I’m always working to find the right balance of ads on my site—thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will review the ad frequency and the Jump to Recipe button. I do want to mention, this site has more than 750 recipes and is free to use to anyone. Websites are expensive to design, code and run on a daily basis. Not to mention the cost of testing recipes up to 10 times. Ads help me pay for those expenses and allows me to keep doing this as a job—develop and publish recipes that are free for readers.

      Reply

  17. The first part of the recipe says to put all the honey into the egg yolk mixture. Which I did. Not until I read the second recipe instructions down below did I see that I was supposed to divide part of the honey for the blueberries. Not sure why this blog post has to have to separate set of instructions it makes it very confusing to follow. Not sure how to approach this now with all that honey sitting with my egg yolks. UGH. I’ve spent hours on this. Pretty bummed.

    Reply

    1. I specifically list amounts for honey in both the ingredient list AND the recipe instructions to make this recipe as easy to follow as possible since it has three different parts. The lemon curd layer notes to use 1/3 cup of honey in the instructions. The blueberry notes 1/4 cup. Aside from adding a third section in the ingredient list, I’m not sure how this recipe could have been more clear. This recipe is written with different instructions because each component is a completely different cooking method.

      Reply

    1. Hi Jillian, such a genius idea! I think it would, you may even need a bit more juice than the recipe calls for since cranberries have so much less juice than blueberries. I would process the cranberries with 1/4 cup orange juice or cranberry juice. Since cranberries are pretty high in pectin, 2 tablespoons of cornstarch should be enough (could even be too much, but that will just make it a bit firmer than usual—still delicious). If I have time, I will test this in the next few days. If you beat me too it, let me know how it goes!

      Reply

  19. 4 stars
    This looked lovely uncut and tasted good, big the blueberry layer slid off the lemon when slices were cut. Any ideas what went wrong?

    Reply

    1. Hi Anne, I’m glad it tasted good! That should definitely not happen—my thought is that the blueberry mixture may have had too much cornstarch or not enough liquid so it was more gelatinous and “set” to adequately stick to the lemon layer. I’m sorry that happened!

      Reply

      1. Yes, that makes sense. Because I was preparing a whole dinner party, the blueberry waited in the pot for a while before I poured it onto the lemon layer. I’ll try again, without the delay that probably allowed the blueberry mixture to set too much. Thanks.

        Reply