Vegan Lemon Tart

4.78 from 18 votes

This vegan lemon tart is a popular Italian recipe that everyone will love. It's sweet, refreshing, and made with really simple ingredients that you already have in your pantry. You can make it with a soft crust or crunchy crust. We'll show you both.

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time43 mins

Total Time1 hr 3 mins

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Plant-Based, Vegan

Servings: people

Calories: 287kcal

Author: Nico

Equipment

Pie dish 9 to 10 inches (24 to 26cm) easiest if with removable base.
Rolling pin
Zester or grater
Whisk

Ingredients

For the shortcrust pastry

350 g flour + 1 tablespoon for kneading and rolling
100 g sugar
70 g water
70 g vegetable oil
8 g baking powder
2 medium lemons the grated zest

For the lemon custard

600 g plant milk
120 g sugar
80 g lemon juice + the peel of 1 lemon
70 g cornstarch
1 pinch turmeric (optional for the yellow colour)

Metric - USA

Instructions

LEMON CUSTARD

In a saucepan, off the heat, add the strained lemon juice, soy milk, sugar and cornstarch. Whisk until there are no lumps.
Add the lemon peel (not the grated zest) and simmer while whisking over medium heat until thick and smooth. Remove the lemon peel and set aside to cool while you prepare the crust. Stir occasionally to avoid lumps. Add a pinch of turmeric to give it a yellow colour.

SHORTCRUST PASTRY

Preheat the oven to 360F or 180C. In a bowl, add the sugar, water, oil, lemon zest and mix with a spatula. Sift in the flour and baking powder all at once , then with the same spatula mix all the ingredients until they almost come together.
Transfer the dough to a worktop and knead with your hands for max 1 minute, just long enough to bring everything together into a smooth ball. Do not knead too much. Add a little flour if the dough seems too sticky.
Sprinkle the worktop with flour, then with a rolling pin roll out ¾ of the dough into a 4 mm thin disk.
Oil the pie dish and dust it with flour, then transfer the dough into it and fit it snuggly pushing with your fingers. Cut off the excess dough and poke holes in the bottom and sides with a fork.

FOR A SOFT LEMON TART

Fill the crust with the lemon custard and spread evenly with a spoon.
Roll out the leftover dough thinly, then with a knife cut 9 strips and place them on top of the tart. 5 in one direction, the other 4 in the opposite direction. Brush the strips with vegetable milk.
Bake at 360F or 180C for 40-45 minutes. We baked ours for 43 minutes, but baking time may vary depending on your oven and the thickness of the crust. Let cool completely (2 to 3 hours) before serving.

FOR A CRUNCHY LEMON TART

Bake the crust, without filling, at 360F or 180C for 15-20 minutes. The exact time depends on how thick it is and your oven. It should be lightly browned.
While the base is baking, roll out the remaining dough very thin, then with a small mold make little cookies with your favorite shape (we used stars) and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Once the base is cooked, remove it from the oven and set aside to cool for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, bake the cookies at 360F or 180C for about 8 minutes, until golden on top.
Just before serving, fill the base with the lemon custard.
Place the cookies on top of the custard and there you have it. A delicious and crunchy vegan lemon tart to serve as a dessert or snack with tea and coffee. You can dust with powdered sugar if you like.

Video

Notes

Measurements: we recommend using the metric system for this recipe.

WHICH ONE SHOULD I MAKE?

It really depends on your preference. The only thing to keep in mind is, the crunchy crust will only stay crunchy for about a day, before it starts absorbing moisture from the air and from the lemon custard.

So, if you want crunchy crust, my advice is to make the base, the custard and the cookies on top in advance, but then to build the lemon tart just before serving it. It only takes 2 minutes to build and it will taste so delicious.

To make the soft crust lemon tart, you should cook the tart with the custard in. The lemon tart with soft crust is easier to store for a couple of days.

Nutrition