Creamy Lemon Tart with a Yogurt Mousse Filling

This creamy lemon yogurt tart has a shortcrust pastry base and is filled with an airy lemon mousse made of yogurt, lemon curd and whipped cream.

This lemon yogurt tart is a simple but stunning dessert. The filling is so creamy and light, full of lemon flavour. The tart is topped with soft and juicy macerated orange slices, and a little fresh mint.

It’s still winter here which is why this tart is making the most of seasonal citrus fruit.

The Oranges

Zingy lemon and sweet navel orange are a lovely pair, so I topped this tart with juicy orange slices.

The orange is macerated lightly in some lemon juice first to bring out the flavour and make it extra juicy.

If oranges aren’t your thing, this tart could also be topped with berries or kiwi fruit, or any fruit of your choice really! The lemon filling is very versatile and goes with nearly every fruit.

The Pastry

The pastry for this tart is a simple shortcrust pastry. A shortcrust pastry done well is the best! Buttery, flaky, so so good.

Cold butter is cut into flour, until it resembles coarse bread crumb pieces. Afterwards a little sugar and salt are added in, then it’s time for the liquids.

I have used egg and milk to bind the pastry. The egg is the main liquid, the milk is there just incase it needs a little more moisture. You want to keep the pastry on the dry side. Too much liquid is going to activate the gluten in the flour and you’ll end up with a chewier pastry as opposed to a light and flaky one.

Only use enough milk so it comes together into a ball.

Then the pastry needs to rest in the fridge for at least half an hour, before it’s rolled and pressed into a tart tin.

Then the pastry needs to be baked.

First step is a blind bake, where it’s covered with baking paper and some sort of baking weight. I use rice for this. I have a pot of dried rice I use over and over for this job.

The blind baking lets the tart dough do an initial bake without it puffing up.

Afterwards the weight is removed and the tart case is baked further until golden brown and cooked all the way through.

Then it needs to cool down completely, before the filling is spooned inside.

The Filling

The lemon yogurt tart filling is made up of predominantly cream, yogurt and lemon curd.

The cream is whipped first, along with a little sugar and cornstarch, until stiff peaks form. The cornstarch is used as a cream stabiliser to help the tart set.

Then yogurt and lemon curd are folded through. I use a greek-style yogurt for the tart as it’s nice and thick. We make our own yogurt, so to make it thick I will let it sit in a cheesecloth for an hour, with a weight (like a plate) placed on top. This helps to drain out the whey and make the yogurt nice and creamy.

The lemon curd is homemade with my lemon curd recipe. It’s zingy, lemony and so yum!

Setting the tart

Once the filling has been spooned into the tart shell, it needs to chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

The filling will always stay soft and airy, but that little bit of setting time helps to stabilise it more.

Once it has set, top it with the macerated oranges and fresh mint (or fruit of your choice!)

Enjoy!

Want to try some more citrus recipes? Try these meyer lemon bars, creamy lemon cheesecake ice cream, or this lemon yogurt cake recipe with rosemary.

These sourdough scones with lemon and blueberry are a great citrus recipe to try as well if you have a sourdough starter.

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