This deliciously creamy lemon cheesecake tart is truly a divine treat! The buttery tart crust filled with a lemon infused cheesecake filling is literal perfection. For a final touch of extra lemon flavor, this lemon cheesecake tart is finished with a thin layer of tangy lemon curd.
Sweet Tart Crust
The sweet, cookie-like texture of this tart crust recipe serves as the perfect base for the more delicate cheesecake filling. To make this melt in your mouth sweet tart crust recipe, you will need:
Key Ingredients
- Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- Confectioner’s (Powdered) Sugar
- Salt
- Unsalted Butter
- Egg
Tips for Making Tart Crust Dough
- Cut Cold Butter into Dry Ingredients – similar to making pie crust dough, you want to cut cold butter into dry ingredients either using a food processor or pastry cutter until mixture takes on a coarse crumbly appearance.
- Do Not Overwork the Dough – once the whisked egg is mixed into coarse dough mixture and it starts to clump into a ball, do not mix the dough any further. Over mixing the dough will result in a dry crumbly tart.
- Press and Chill the Dough Before Baking – working quickly, press dough into tart pan starting along the sides of the pan and working inward to the center (bottom). Use a fork to prick the entire bottom surface of the tart dough. This will help to prevent the tart dough from puffing up as it bakes. Lastly, cover the tart with plastic wrap and freeze until firm.
- Blind Bake Before Adding Filling – when a tart is to be filled with a filling that requires baking, then it must be partially baked (blind baked) prior to adding the filling. To blind bake a tart, carefully place a sheet of parchment paper into the center of the tart and fill with pie weights, beans or rice. The purpose behind this is to prevent the tart dough from puffing up as it is partially baked.
Lemon Cheesecake Filling
This lemon cheesecake filling is creamy, tangy, and packed with the fragrant flavor of lemons. Both the zest and juice of lemons are used for that extra kick of lemon flavor. Here is what you will need to make recipe:
Key Ingredients
- Cream Cheese
- Plain Yogurt
- Granulated Sugar
- Egg
- Egg Yolk
- Cornstarch
- Lemon Juice and Zest
To make lemon cheesecake filling, mix the cream cheese, yogurt, sugar, lemon zest and cornstarch together until smooth. Next, mix in the lemon juice and vanilla extract followed by the egg and egg yolk. Scrape down the sides and base of the mixing bowl before giving the batter a final mix.
How to Make Lemon Cheesecake Tart (Assembly)
- Blind bake tart crust until light golden brown in color.
- Fill partially baked tart crust with lemon cheesecake filling.
- Bake cheesecake tart until filling appears puffed along the edges with a slight jiggle in the center.
- Cool cheesecake tart before spreading lemon curd evenly over the tart.
- Refrigerate tart to set before decorating with fresh fruits and serving.
How to Store Cheesecake Tart
Cheesecake tart is best eaten the day it is prepared but will last 2-3 days in the fridge and 1-3 months in the freezer stored in an airtight container. When ready to eat frozen tart, thaw in the fridge overnight to restore soft texture.
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If you make this recipe, please make sure to let me know by tagging me @nourishedendeavors on Instagram or by leaving a comment in the comment section down below so I can find out how this recipe turned out for you! If you have any questions, ask away! I would love to answer your questions! Happy baking!
PrintLemon Cheesecake Tart
This deliciously creamy lemon cheesecake tart is truly a divine treat! The buttery tart crust filled with a lemon infused cheesecake filling is literal perfection. For a final touch of lemon flavor, this lemon cheesecake tart is finished with a thin layer of tangy lemon curd.
- Prep Time: 2 Hours (Including Refrigeration Time)
- Cook Time: 1 Hour
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 1(9 Inch) Tart 1x
Ingredients
Sweet Tart Dough
- 1 1/2 Cup (188 g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
- 1/3 Cup (42 g) Confectioner’s (Powdered) Sugar
- 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 Cup (113 g) Unsalted Butter, Cold, Cubed into 1/4 inch Pieces
- 1 Large Egg, Cold
Lemon Cheesecake Filling
- 10 oz (283 g) Cream Cheese, Full-Fat
- 1/4 Cup + 2 Tablespoons (75 g) Granulated Sugar
- 1/4 Cup (57 g) Plain Whole Milk Yogurt, Room Temperature
- 1 Large Egg + 1 Large Egg Yolk, Room Temperature
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1 Teaspoon Cornstarch
- 1 Heaping Teaspoon Lemon Zest
- 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Lemon Curd Topping
- 3 Tablespoons (45 ml) Fresh Lemon Juice
- 1/3 Cup (67 g) Granulated Sugar
- 1 Large Egg
- 2 Tablespoons (28 g) Unsalted Butter,Cubed, Softened
- Zest of half a Lemon, Optional
Assembly
- Fresh Berries/Fruits of Choice, Optional
- Fresh Herbs, Optional
Instructions
Sweet Tart Crust
- In a small dish/bowl, add and whisk the egg.
- Add the flour, salt, confectioners’ sugar, and butter into a food processor. Pulse ingredients together until a coarse mixture consisting of small pea-sized pieces of butter are present.
- With the food processor running, pour and mix in the whisked egg into butter-flour mixture. Stop the food processor once the mixture starts to form into a ball.
- Carefully remove sweet tart dough from the food processor and transfer to a standard 9 inch tart.
- Working quickly, evenly press tart dough into tart pan starting at the sides/edges and moving in toward the center (bottom) until the tart pan has an even layer of dough. Use a fork to prick all over the bottom of the sweet tart dough.
- Gently cover the tart pan with plastic wrap, transfer to a medium baking sheet and freeze for 60 minutes or until the dough is firm.
- During the last 15-20 minutes of freeze time, preheat the oven to 375F(190C). Line tart crust with a piece of parchment paper and fill with weights of choice (i.e. pie weights, dried beans/legumes or rice).
- Bake tart dough on a baking sheet for 15 minutes. Remove parchment paper and weights and bake tart crust for additional 10-12 minutes. Tart crust is ready when light golden brown in color and the bottom of crust no longer looks wet/uncooked.
- Remove tart crust from the oven and allow to cool slightly as the lemon cheesecake filling is prepared. (If the tart crust appears puffed, use the back of a spoon to gently press down the bottom and sides as needed while the crust is still hot. This will help tart hold its shape.)
- Reduce oven temperature to 325F(165C).
Lemon Cheesecake Filling
- In the bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment or in a large mixing bowl with a hand-held electric mixer, add the cream cheese, sugar, yogurt, cornstarch and lemon zest. Mix ingredients together at medium speed until smooth, about 2-3 minutes.
- Stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the sides and base of the mixing bowl.
- Mix in the lemon juice and vanilla extract into cheesecake batter at medium speed to combine.
- Reduce mixer speed to low and mix the egg and egg yolk into batter one at a time.
- Stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the sides and base of the mixing bowl before mixing the cheesecake batter for an additional minute at low speed.
- Pour cheesecake batter into the slightly cooled tart crust and bake for 25-30 minutes. Cheesecake tart is ready once the edges appear puffed and the center has a slight jiggle.
- Allow cheesecake tart to rest at room temperature 45-60 minutes. Prepare lemon curd as cheesecake tart cools.
Lemon Curd Topping
- In a medium heavy bottom saucepan, add the sugar and egg. Whisk ingredients to combine.
- Pour lemon juice into sugar-egg mixture and whisk to combine.
- Under medium-low heat, cook curd while whisking constantly. Curd is ready once it has thickened up and coats the back of a spoon/spatula, about 6-8 minutes. The temperature of curd should register between 165-170F on a kitchen thermometer.
- Remove curd from heat. Pass hot curd through a fine mesh sieve/strainer into a bowl and discard any remnants of cooked eggs, if present.
- Slowly whisk butter into warm curd a little at time (about 1 tablespoon) until completely incorporated.
- Whisk the lemon zest into curd, if using before, covering the surface of curd with plastic/cling wrap.
- Allow lemon curd to cool to room temperature before using.
Assembly
- Spread all of the lemon curd onto the surface of cooled cheesecake tart.
- Refrigerate tart for at least 4 hours or overnight to set.
- Serve tart as is or decorate with fresh berries, fruits and herbs of choice.
Notes
- Cheesecake tart is best eaten the day it is prepared but will last 2-3 days in the fridge and 1-3 months in the freezer stored in an airtight container. When ready to eat frozen tart, thaw in the fridge overnight to restore soft texture.
- In the absence of a food processor, sweet tart dough may be made by hand with a pastry cutter to cut butter into dry ingredients and a fork to mix egg into coarse butter-flour mixture just until dough starts to form into a ball. At this point proceed with the next step detailed in recipe card.
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