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 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.
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. 🙂
PrintLemon 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)Â 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 rubber 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): Small Saucepan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | 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.
This had just the right amount of tart and tang! I opted for the blackberry swirl using frozen berries and it was delicious!
I loved this! The taste reminds me of a less-intense lemon curd with a dollop of less-sweet blueberry pie filling on top of a crispy bit of Walkers shortbread. Frozen blueberries worked great for me. I used a slightly larger tart pan, so the crust was very thin but great. I will definitely be making this again!
I made this for our family Easter dinner, and it was a total hit! Everyone loved the sweetness of the blueberries with the tartness of the lemons, and that crust was SO GOOD!!!! Thanks for a great recipe!
I made the April Baking Challenge – Lemon Blueberry Tart and it was delicious! Very easy dessert to make. As always Sally gives awesome no-fail directions! The shortbread crust is so good!! For those who don’t have a Tart pan I used a 9″ round cake pan and it worked perfectly!! Thanks for the great recipe!!
This was delicious, not finicky at all and turned out perfectly. We made it as described with frozen blueberries. We don’t think it suffered at all from the use of frozen berries, but we’re excited to try it again with other berries as they become in-season.
I did this recipe for my Easter diner and it did not disappoint! The shortbread crust was crumbly, the filling was so smooth and the citrusy taste was impeccable! I decorated the tart with blueberry candied lemon slices. And it was so simple! Thank you for this great recipe.
I made this for Easter dinner yesterday, and it was a hit with my family! It had just the perfect blend of sweet and tart, and the crust was so flavorful. I will definitely be making it again. It was hard not to eat it all by myself
Absolutely delicious. I was a tad worried that it would be overly lemony so I did not add the teaspoon or two to the blueberries BUT this was the perfect balance between sweet and tart. The whole table said this was amazing and loved it. Will definitely make again and also try with blackberries. 5 stars! Easy to make too!
I made this tart 2 days ago. It’s better the second day. It’s very rich. Small wedge with a cup of coffee. I would add more lemon. (funny. Some like more lemon, some like less).
Wonderful recipe! Everything came together perfectly, and the whole family loved it!
Recipe was a hit and very easy. I was a little intimidated because it was so pretty and it was my first tart, but it came together without a hitch! Flavor was perfectly tangy and sweet. Definitely will be making again 🙂
Hi Sally, I made this for Easter. Flavors were delicious. It is very easy to put together. I don’t have a tart pan so I used a 9 inch glass pie plate. My crust was a bit thin and I didn’t grease the pan as I thought there was enough butter in the crust. The crust stuck to the pan & was a bit ‘hard’ so while the taste of the crust was fantastic it was very difficult to get out of the pan. Is there something I should have done differently (followed the recipe exactly). I did use a measuring cup to help spread the crust in the pan… could that have been the problem.. I didn’t think I packed it down… But like I said the taste was delicious!
Hi Bernice, thanks so much for giving this recipe a try! What a perfect addition to your Easter celebrations. The crust can definitely be tricky to remove when using a pie pan vs. a tart pan. For next time, take the tart out of the fridge and let it sit for a few minutes before slicing. This should help soften the crust just a bit and make it a little easier to remove. And once the first slice is out, the others should be a little more neat. Hope this helps for next time!
I do not have a sweet tooth even though I bake like crazy. However, I made this Lemon Blueberry Tart yesterday and I ate a quarter of it by myself by the time the day was over. It is insanely delicious and it’s all I can think I about eating today but I guess I should share with the husband. I highly recommend making this, really easy to make, too. Thanks, Sally, for another amaaaazing recipe!
I loved it. It’s a perfect balance of sweet and tart. It was not very sweet (which was perfect for me). It was similar to a key lime pie. Crust was perfect and was easy to make. I topped mine with a dollop fresh whipped cream which added a nice balance.
This was so easy to make and I cannot wait to cut into it!!!
I made this for Easter 2021 and it was WONDERFUL!!! The recipe was easy to follow and we all greatly enjoyed it. Thank you!!!
The shortbread crust was amazing and the recipe was easy to follow. The filling was a bit sweet for me but otherwise delicious and everyone took seconds.
The lemon blueberry tart was the perfect Easter/spring dessert, and so easy to make. I added some extra, whole blueberries on top when serving.
Followed the recipe and it was ~wonderful~
Relatively easy to make and was a hit at Easter dinner. I had a good feeling about this recipe, and it combined two flavor favorites nicely. The shortbread crust worked well with the lemon custard filling, and held together well. Will definitely make this again.
This is a great spring dessert and a very good recipe. The lemon flavor is nice but not overly sweet, and the blueberry swirl is pretty along with adding another flavor. I used a pie plate, and it was a little difficult to get the slices out – I think I should have lightly greased it. I know if I had the right size tart pan it would have come out easily.
Hi Sally!
I can’t wait to make this!
I have a problem though… I don’t have a tart pan. What should I do?
Thank you!
Hi Emily! See recipe notes for alternate baking dish details.
This one is a real winner (although I should say that all of the recipes I’ve used from your site are winners!) I made this yesterday for our Easter dinner dessert and it was a huge hit with everyone. My father-in-law even asked for an extra piece to take home with him.
My tart pan is an 11″ pan so I just doubled the recipe for both the crust and the filling. I had a little bit too much filling so some of that got tossed. I baked it for 15 min and it came out perfectly. Thank you for always sharing such great recipes.
I made both mini tarts, and a full size tart for Easter. The mini ones were gluten free. They turned out great and were heartily enjoyed by the GF family members and non GF alike. Since I had too much filling (I used 15 2 1/2″ tart pans), I made a second batch of filling, added it to the leftover filling and made a 10″ tart in a pie plate with regular flour. Personally I felt the shortbread crust was a bit thick. (For the large one) About 3/8″. It was evenly pressed in over the entire dish. (Even without making a larger batch of crust for the 10″ dish as opposed to a 9″). That said, it was still very good.
My family loves lemon and this was homerun for Easter Sunday desert!
The recipe came together faster than I thought, was really simple to make, and absolutely delicious! What more could I ask for? Thanks for another wonderful recipe, SBA!
It was delicious! Loved the crust and the sweet but tart flavors!
Delicious and easy dessert! The shortbread crust is so good and the filling is the perfect blend of tart and sweet.
I loved the shortbread crust… perfect with the lemon, blueberry sweetness. Next time I plan to make this in mini-tarts. Thanks for another great recipe.
Beautiful dessert! Since childhood, when I could not understand the appeal of anything sweet and lemon-flavored that wasn’t lemonade, I have made a complete 180 in the recent months in terms of lemon baked goods and this was the perfect recipe to discover my newfound baking addiction. The recipe was simple and easy to follow, but involved enough that I still very much enjoyed the process of the bake. I substituted Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Ratio Gluten Free Flour for the normal AP flour and it was just as amazing! It didn’t need any other tinkering and it also didn’t have any weird tastes that gluten free treats sometimes carry. Thank you for a perfect springtime/Easter recipe!
The best part of our Easter Dinner!