This lemon ginger tart has a sweet shortcrust and a very lemony-gingery filling that makes my eyes close and my heart happy.
This wonderful lemon ginger tart has captured my heart and my palette. Ever since I was a child I had a soft spot for lemon desserts. No chocolate for me thank you very much. When I taste this lemony tangy goodness I am at my happiest.
The filling has few simple ingredients. Eggs, fresh lemon juice, lots of ginger, confectioner’s sugar, a little flour and salt.
The base of this tart is an irresistible buttery sweet shortcrust. You need just a three ingredients. Salted butter, flour and one egg. That’s it!
1. Add flour and sugar in the food processor. Add the cold butter. Pulse until mixture has a breadcrumb consistency. 2. Add the egg and pulse until dough is combined completely and is sticky. Don’t over work it.
3. Add the dough in your tart pan and press down with your fingers to evenly spread the dough all over pan and edges. 4. You can use a small flat surface like a the bottom of a meassurring cup to help even out the dough all over pan.
5. Trim edges with a knife and add the extra dough to patch up thin spots. 6. Bake the tart shell until it’s a pale golden brown on the edges and baked through on the bottom for about 15 to 20 minutes.
7. Grate the ginger and juice the lemons. 8. In a medium bowl, whisk together lemon juice, sugar, egg yolks, egg, flour, and salt. Add two tbsp of ginger. Make sure no lumps remain, but be careful not to over-mix.
9. Pass the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to take out any lumpy bits. Add the 1 tbsp of remaining ginger, mix really well. 10. Transfer the filling to the crust and bake until the edges are set and the center no longer jiggles, but does not look dry, 20-25 minutes. Let the tart cool completely before slicing.
You can serve as is. I like to sprinkle some confectioner’s sugar on top right before serving.
Tips & Tricks
Right now it is difficult to get as much fresh produce as we like because most of us we tend to limit our shopping trips to every other week. Certain pantry staples run out, at least in my household. What do I do? Substitute!
- If there are not enough lemons I easily use any other citrus fruit I might have in my fridge. Oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, lemons, and limes are all in the citrus family. Mix and match!
- Run out of confectioner’s sugar but have enough granulated? No problem. Per Betty Crocker, you can can make powdered sugar from granulated sugar by simply blending 1 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cornstarch until a fine powder. 1 3/4 cup powdered sugar can be substituted for 1 cup granulated sugar.
- No fresh ginger available? If you have powdered ginger use it. Otherwise omit entirely. The tart will be delicious.
You may also try
- For a quick lunch check this easy breezy yellow squash tart , it is ready in less than 30 minutes and can also be an awesome appetizer.
- If you love coffee, you can learn how to make Greek coffee!
- For an easy and scrumptious dessert give my berry mascarpone tart a try. It is fresh with a buttery, crumbly crust that will satisfy you.
- A staple in Greek food is a Greek Flatbread-Pita. Use it to roll up a souvlaki, make a sandwich, or cut it up and serve next to this tomato & olive appetizer, homemade pita bread will definitely be a hit!
Check all the pantry items a Greek kitchen wouldn’t go without.
If you’ve tried this recipe or any other on The Greek Foodie, then don’t forget to rate it and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience making it.
WANT TO EAT LIKE A GREEK? Subscribe to my email and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for all of the latest recipes.
Equipment
- Food processor
- A 11 inch tart pan
- Rimmed baking sheet
- a citrus squeezer
- 2 medium bowls
- A mesh strainer
Ingredients
for the crust
- 2 sticks salted butter cold, cut in 1/2 inch squares
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 1 egg
for the filling
- 1 cup lemon juice takes about 6 lemons
- 1 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3 tbsp grated ginger divided
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
For serving
- confectioners’ sugar optional
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Make the crust
- Add flour and sugar in the food processor. Add the cold butter. Pulse until mixture has a breadcrumb consistency.
- Add the egg and pulse until dough is combined completely and is sticky. Don't over work it.
- Add the dough in your tart pan and press down with your fingers to evenly spread the dough all over pan and edges.
- You can use a small flat surface like a the bottom of a meassurring cup to help even out the dough all over pan.
- Trim edges of pastry with a knife and add the extras to patch up thin spots.
- Bake the tart shell until it is a pale golden brown on the edges and baked through on the bottom for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Make the filling & bake
- Grate the ginger and juice the lemons.
- In a bowl, whisk together lemon juice, sugar, egg yolks, egg, flour, and salt. Add two tbsp of ginger. Make sure no lumps remain, but be careful not to overmix.
- Pass the egg mixture through a fine mesh strainer to take out any lumpy bits. Add the remaining 1 tbsp of remaining ginger and mix well.
- Transfer the filling to the crust and bake until the edges are set and the center no longer jiggles, but does not look dry, 20-25 minutes. Let the tart cool completely before slicing.
- You can serve as is or sprinkle some confectioner's sugar on top right before serving.
Notes
- Place the tart pan on a rimmed baking sheet before baking. It is easier to move it in and out of the oven and in case there are spills the baking sheet will catch them.
- You can also roll out your shortcrust pastry, you don’t have to pat it in with your hands. I like this method at jusrol.co.uk
Nutrition
Heya, this looks lovely but how much flour goes into the filling? Looking forward to making this. Adam
Hi Adam! It’s a really lovely tart! The flour for the filling is 1/4 cup, it was an editing mistake :-). Thank you for catching that! Recipe is updated now.
Thank you for the quick reply and info Jenny. I’m making this Saturday as a dessert with some Scottish heather honey ice cream to go with. It looks like an awesome tart and I love lemon and ginger so can’t wait to give it a go. Thanks again, Adam
Scottish heather honey ice cream sounds divine Adam!
Hi! This sounds lovely. Before I make it, I’d just like to confirm one thing. The ginger should be grated fresh ginger, not ground dried ginger, correct?
Hi Rich! You are correct , it’s fresh grated ginger! x Jenny
This is a fantastic pie! I used even more ginger because I like it “extra tart”, and wow– what an explosion of flavor! Very unexpected, not only is it incredibly tasty, it looks so pretty too. This is pie is now on my list if I want to impress my friends or family;) Thank you Jenny, what a discovery!