This Vegan Lemon Tart is made with no Eggs and No Dairy. The homemade flakey pastry is filled with a super tangy vegan lemon curd, perfect for a party or afternoon tea!
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How to make a Vegan Pie Crust
Making a Vegan Tart Crust is exactly the same as making a classic one, except the fat used is different. Typically, a tart pastry is made with Butter but since we are making this one dairy-free, I have used Coconut Oil.
I have made this vegan pastry recipe using Coconut Oil multiple times and it has always worked great! The pastry will be slightly more likely to break when you roll it, but that can easily be rectified with the heat of your finger.
Just like with my Vegan Cacao Tart Pastry, you will use classic ingredients to make this vegan tart crust:
- Plain Flour
- Almond Meal
- Icing Sugar
- Coconut Oil
- Cold Water
How to make Vegan Lemon Curd Filling
Do not get scared by the name; making an Eggless Lemon Curd is far from being a challenge! A classic Lemon Curd is made with Egg Yolks, which gives its typical consistency when cooked.
You will thus simply need to find an alternative to eggs. To make this Eggless Lemon Tart Filling, I simply used Cornstarch to thicken the lemon juice and coconut cream, then Agar Agar Powder to help it firm up in the fridge.
If you are not familiar with Agar Agar Powder - a plant-based gelling agent to use instead of gelatine - you can read more about it here.
Because a classic Lemon Curd gets its bright yellow colour from the egg yolks, I have used Turmeric Powder to create the illusion. Not only it has incredible colouring power (and supposedly very good for you too), Turmeric Powder is also basically tasteless, which is great for this recipe!
It's like you would never know that it is both an eggless and a dairy free lemon curd!
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More Vegan Recipes with Agar Agar Powder:
- Vegan Strawberry Coconut Panna Cotta
- Vegan Chocolate Mousse Tart with Raspberries
- No Bake Mini Blueberry Tarts
- Orange and Grapefruit Panna Cotta
To make the curd:
- Mix some Lemon Juice, Coconut Cream, Caster Sugar, Cornstarch and Turmeric Powder then heat it up in a pot on low/medium heat.
- Keep whisking until the curd starts thickening, then bring to a small boil.
- Add the Agar Agar Powder and whisk for another minute. Pour the Vegan Lemon Curd over the pre-baked tart pastry.
Using Aquafaba to make Vegan Meringues
To finish this Lemon Tart the classic way, I made some Vegan Meringue Cookies using Aquafaba. I wrote a whole article on How to Make Aquafaba Meringue Cookies.
If you decide to make these little eggless meringues to decorate your vegan lemon tart, be careful not to put them on too early. The are rather fragile and will most likely melt on the tart; so make sure to place them on your dessert just before serving it!
More Vegan Desserts
- Vegan Chocolate Mousse
- Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies
- Avocado Chocolate Mousse
- Vegan No Bake Mango Cheesecake
- Vegan Sticky Date Puddings
Made this recipe?
Let us know if you liked it by leaving a comment below, and tag us on Instagram @a.baking.journey with a photo of your creation!
Recipe
Easy Vegan Lemon Tart
Ingredients
Pastry Crust
- 1 cup (150gr) Plain Flour
- 1/2 cup (50gr) Almond Meal
- 2 tbsp (20gr) Icing Sugar
- 2/3 cup (100gr) Coconut Oil
- 1/4 cup (60ml) Cold Water
Vegan Lemon Curd
- 3/4 cup (175ml) Lemon Juice - approx. 4 small lemons
- 1 cup (220ml) Coconut Cream
- 4 tbsp (60gr) Caster Sugar - or to taste - see note below
- 2 tbsp (15gr) Cornstarch
- 1 1/2 teasp. (3gr) Agar Agar Powder
- 1 teasp. Turmeric Powder - optional, to taste for colouring
Disclaimer
I highly recommend using the measurements in grams & ml (instead of cups & spoons) for more accuracy and better results.
Instructions
Pastry Crust
- Place the Plain Flour, Almond Meal and Icing Sugar in the bowl of your food processor. Pulse a few times to mix all the dry ingredients together.
- Add the cold Coconut Oil and pulse until it resemble wet sand / thin crumbs. Add the cold water and continue pulsing until the pastry comes together.
- Transfer onto a lightly floured surface and assemble into a ball. Cover with wrap and leave in the fridge for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the coconut oil starts to harden.
- Preheat your oven on 180'C / 350'F.Generously flour your kitchen bench and roll the pastry to create a large disc. If the pastry cracks, simply use your fingers to re-assemble it. Place in a Tart Tin with removable bottom and prick the crust with a fork. Cover with a small sheet of baking paper and fill with baking beads, weights or dried beans.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes with the beads/weight, then carefully remove and leave to cook for another 5 to 10 minutes or until fully cooked. Set aside to cool down.
Vegan Lemon Curd
- Mix the Lemon Juice, Coconut Cream, Caster Sugar, Cornstarch and Turmeric Powder until no lumps remain. Place in a small pot and bring to a slow boil. Don't stop whisking the liquid until it starts thickening to avoid burning it. Taste and adjust the sweetness to your liking if required.
- When the curd starts to boil, add the Agar Agar Powder, whisk for one extra minute and remove from the stove. Directly pour into the blind-baked pastry and place in the fridge to set for 2 hours.
- Optional: decorate with Aquafaba Meringues or Lemon Zests.
Tried this recipe? Make sure to leave a comment and star rating below!
Notes
- The lemon filling is relatively low in sugar and quite tangy. That's how I personally like my lemon tarts, but feel free to increase the quantity of sugar if you prefer it sweeter.
- Don't worry if the pastry seem to crack a bit, you can patch it back with your fingers. Use the heat of your hands to heat up the coconut oil and patch any cracks!
- For a creamier - but less stable - lemon filling, you can reduce the amount of Agar Agar slightly. The curd will not hold its shape as well, but it will give you a creamier texture.
- Before adding the agar, taste the lemon cream and adjust the sugar to your liking if needed.
A. T. says
Hello,
I was wondering if I can substitute the agar agar powder with more cornstarch. Will it have the same effect? Should I leave a little out and add it when the agar powder is listed on the instructions?
Please help!
Thanks
Sylvie says
Hi A.T, you could thicken the filling with cornstarch but it wont set the same way it does with agar - it’ll be more of a lemon curd texture. You’ll have to add starch at the start as it needs to cook to thicken the filling. Hope that helps!
EM says
Hello! Can I substitute the coconut oil with another oil to make the tart shell?
Sylvie says
Hi Em, I havent tried this recipe with any other oil, sorry! The best substitute would probably be margarine though
Binita says
I followed the recipe and the crust was really nice but unfortunately curd was way too sour and inedible. I ended up creating another batch of the filling and adding less lemon juice and more sugar.
A Baking Journey says
Hi Binita, I'm sorry to hear the filling wasnt to your liking. It is quite a sour lemon filling, which is what I personally love about a lemon tart, but you can absolutely add more sugar to it to suit your preferences.
Abbie says
This is delicious! I did add two spoons of extra sugar to the lemon curd as it was quite tart. Really easy recipe! Thank you.
A Baking Journey says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe, thanks Abbie!
Vanessa says
I made the curd filling for a different vegan crust. I like the tartness but not the coconut flavor coming through. I’d prefer a lemon tart with only a lemon flavor. Also, my texture was more like the coconut cream than a curd, but maybe that was due to something I did wrong.
A Baking Journey says
Hi Vanessa, thanks for your feedback - I'm sorry you didnt enjoy the recipe! If you do not like the coconut flavour, you could absolutely replace the coconut cream with another plant-based cream like soy that has a more neutral flavour. For the texture, if the curd did not thicken, it could be that the curd wasnt heated/whisked long enough on the stove or an issue with the starch that you used? Hope that helps! Cheers
Vanessa says
Thank you for the suggestion. I’m planning to try extra firm silken tofu. It did thicken but wasn’t super smooth. I’m thinking I maybe didn’t stir in the cornstarch or agar well enough.
A Baking Journey says
I've never tried it with tofu, so let me know how you go! Is it possible that the curd wasn't boiling when you added the agar? Agar only starts to work at high temperature, so maybe that was the issue here?
Sherrin says
Hi Sylvie,
I couldn't find almond meal in the store, which you mention early on on the page, but later you list almond flower. Are these the same? In case they weren't, I bought coconut turmeric granola to smash up for a more textured ingredient and I have green banana flower in the freezer to use instead as a finer ingredient for the crust. I thought I'd ask before starting... Should I use the banana flower instead? If so, should I take it out of the freezer and let it warm up first?
Thanks
A Baking Journey says
Hi Sherrin,
Almond Meal and Almond Flour are basically the same thing yes - they are both ground almonds, but almond meal is slightly coarser than almond flour. Both will work in this recipe. If you could not find almond meal/flour, you can actually just substitute it with more plain flour - no need for banana flour or smashed granola. Since I haven't tested this crust with anything else than plain flour (or a mix of flour and almond meal like here), I cannot tell if using banana flour or smashed granola would work! Hope that helps 🙂