This simplified citrus dessert comes together quickly and easily thanks to your blender.
Combining the filling ingredients in a blender not only means you’ll have fewer dishes to clean but also ensures you have a well-mixed, uniform filling. Complete your tart by piping a delicate and sweet meringue on top. While using a handheld kitchen torch to lightly toast the meringue is completely optional, we highly recommend it for a showstopping presentation that guests won’t soon forget. Another bonus: You can make this quick tart even quicker by preparing the Pâte Sucrée crust ahead of time so it’s ready when you are.
Blender Lemon Meringue Tart
Makes 1 (10-inch) tart
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour, for dusting
- Pâte Sucrée (recipe follows)
- 3 large eggs (150 grams)
- 1 small lemon (84 grams) (see Note), chopped and seeded
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted
- ½ teaspoon (2 grams) vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Swiss Meringue (recipe follows)
Instructions
- On a lightly floured surface, roll Pâte Sucrée into a 13-inch circle (about ¼ inch thick). Transfer to a 10-inch round fluted removable-bottom tart pan, pressing into bottom and up sides. Trim excess dough. Dock bottom of dough with a fork, and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
- Position oven rack in bottom third of oven. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Top dough with a piece of parchment paper, letting excess extend over edge of pan. Add pie weights.
- Bake until edges are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Carefully remove parchment and pie weights, and bake until bottom of crust is golden brown and dry, 5 to 7 minutes more. Let cool. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F (180°C).
- In the container of a blender, process eggs and lemon on medium-low speed until combined and mostly smooth. (There might be a few very small pieces.) Add sugar, melted butter, vanilla, and salt; blend until well combined. Pour into prepared crust, and lightly smooth top.
- Bake until edges are set but center jiggles slightly and an instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers at least 180°F (82°C), 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Refrigerate until cold before serving, at least 30 minutes.
- When ready to serve, gently remove tart from pan.
- Place Swiss Meringue in a pastry bag fitted with a St. Honoré piping tip (Ateco #882), and pipe onto tart as desired. Using a handheld kitchen torch, carefully and lightly brown meringue. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Notes
Note: Use a lemon with a thin skin to reduce bitterness. If your lemon has a thick skin, cut the peel away from the lemon, scrape off the excess white pith, and then use the remaining lemon and peel as directed. Do not use Meyer lemon; it’s too sweet.
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Pâte Sucrée
Makes 1 (10-inch) crust Often mistaken for pâte sablée thanks to their similarly sandy textures, pâte sucrée is in fact the more structured of the two—less tender, more cooperative. It’s the dough you turn to when you want crisp, cookie-like walls that won’t slouch in a tart ring. The French pastry chef Pierre Hermé famously called it the dough “that stands up straight.” What sets it apart is the method: Sugar is creamed with butter first, building air and emulsification, before flour is folded in last. This reverse technique means gluten development is kept to a minimum—structure comes not from elasticity, but from fat, sugar, and a delicate bake.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- ⅔ cup (80 grams) confectioners’ sugar
- ½ teaspoon (1.5 grams) kosher salt
- 1 large egg (50 grams), room temperature
- 2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter, confectioners’ sugar, and salt at medium speed until pale and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes, stopping to scrape paddle and bottom and sides of bowl. Add egg, and beat until combined, stopping to scrape bottom and sides of bowl. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, beating until just combined and stopping to scrape paddle and bottom and sides of bowl.
- Turn out dough, and shape into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months. If refrigerating dough for longer than 30 minutes, let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before rolling out. Let frozen dough thaw overnight in refrigerator before using.
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Swiss Meringue
Ingredients
- ½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large egg whites (60 grams)
Instructions
- In the heatproof bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together sugar and egg whites by hand. Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Cook, whisking frequently, until sugar dissolves and an instant-read thermometer registers 160°F (71°C).
- Carefully return bowl to stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat at high speed until stiff peaks form and bowl is cool to the touch, 2 to 3 minutes. Use immediately.
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