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This No Fuss Lemon Tart is that go-to dessert…super easy, yet delicious and pretty too. The filling is made with four base ingredients, heavy cream, honey, lemon, and vanilla extract. The crust is a mix of sweet graham crackers, salty pretzels, and just a touch of butter. When combined with the creamy lemon filling it makes for a mouthwatering tart that’s sweet, luscious, super creamy, and a touch salty. Top with an assortment of fresh berries for a tart that’s perfect for both spring and summer.
Happy Friday! What a fun week it’s been here in LA. I have to say, I’m so excited about everything we have been working on. I’m also pretty glad I escaped all the snow in Colorado this week and swapped it for the California sunshine. It’s been a bit cooler than I might like, but I really shouldn’t complain! We’ve been running around the city all week filming some fun new videos. It’s been such a great change of scenery for me!
With Friday here I am beyond happy to be sharing this no fuss lemon tart. It’s a recipe I’ve been really excited to share since the day I made it, and for a few reasons.
First and foremost, this tart is delicious. It’s lightly sweetened, tangy, creamy and finished with sweet berries. The crust has a little (pretzel) twist and is lightly salted, providing a nice balance to the tang and sweetness.
Second, not only is this tart beyond simple to make (just 4 base ingredients in the filling), but it’s almost no bake. I say almost because the crust does need to bake, but trust me, the toasty flavor is so worth it!
And finally, this tart is so pretty, which some of you may not be that concerned with. But you all know me, I love anything that tastes just as pretty as it looks.
Traditionally lemon tarts are made with a ton of eggs, cream, and butter, but this tart is very different. It uses only cream, zero eggs, and is pretty low in the sugar content…no actual sugar, just honey.
Let me back up a bit though, and tell you about the crust. Most tarts call for an all graham cracker crust, but I wanted to do something different and add a little saltiness to the already sweet graham crackers. Instead of using all graham crackers I went for a mix of graham crackers and pretzels. It’s not what you might typically put together, but trust me when I say, this crust is a game changer. It’s sweet and just a touch salty too. The best combo.
While the crust is baking, work on the filling. It’s the simplest thing and you’re going to be shocked when I tell you the ingredients. All you need is heavy cream, honey, lemon, and vanilla. Yep, just four very simple ingredients, zero eggs, and almost zero effort.
All you need to do is bring the cream to a boil, boil 5 minutes, remove from the stove, add the lemon and vanilla…and that’s it! Be sure to use a large pot, bigger than you think you will need. Heavy cream really likes to boil over, so use the largest pot you have to be safe.
When testing this recipe I was concerned that the cream was not going to set up. But shockingly it set up within the first 30 minutes of chilling. Boiling the cream thickens it, and allows for it to set up just like it would if using eggs.
My favorite part though? I find this to be creamier than the usual lemon tart which is so much fancier and use eggs. It’s crazy to me, but I promise, this is one of the best lemon tarts. And the major bonus is that it’s so simple!!
If you happen to be someone who prefers dairy free, I tested this with both heavy cream and coconut cream (no water, just the cream). Both worked really well! If you are using coconut cream, make sure it is high quality and boil the coconut cream for a total of 10 minutes. Personally, I love the flavor of the coconut. But it does change the tart slightly, giving a little more of a tropical flavor. So use what you love most here!
Finally, finish the tart off with a handful of your favorite fresh berries. You’ll have the prettiest dessert that takes almost no effort at all. In the words of Ina Garten, “This looks fantastic. How easy was that?”.
PS. If you’re in need of more than one tart this Memorial Day weekend, try this no bake fruit tart filled with strawberries. It will be a nice compliment to this lemon tart.
If you make this no fuss lemon tart, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Watch the How To Video:
No Fuss Lemon Tart.
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 1847 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 8 full size graham cracker sheets (about 1 cup once crushed into crumbs)
- 1 cup salted pretzel twists
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 2 tablespoons + 1/3 cup honey
- 3 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest + 1/3 cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups mixed fresh berries
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 2. To make the crust. In a food processor, pulse the graham crackers and pretzels into semi-fine crumbs. Add the butter and 2 tablespoons honey and pulse until the mixture holds together when pinched and starts to look like dough. Press the dough into an 8 or 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom to form a flat, even crust. Transfer to the oven and bake until toasted, about 8 minutes. 3. Meanwhile, combine the heavy cream, remaining 1/3 cup honey, and lemon zest in a large pot, bigger than you think you'll need. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, boil 5 minutes and then remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon juice, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Let cool 10 minutes. 4. Carefully pour the lemon cream into the baked crust. Cover and chill 1 hour or until set. Before serving, remove the tart from the pan and top with fresh berries.
This post was originally published on May 24, 2019
Help! Complete disaster!!! I have made several HBH recipes with great success. Not this one. I made this with strained coconut cream per instructions. Let crust and filling cool down. Tart still took several hours to set and leaked out in fridge. Today it was a big mushy mess. Top had a hard crust from coconut cream and filling and crust were a mushy mess.’Still tasted great, though definitely not what I expected. I feel like something is missing from the ingredients/instructions if one uses coconut cream. Any ideas or tips?
Hey Mary, I am not sure why but people seem to be having issues with using coconut cream. What brand coconut milk did you use? When I make it with coconut milk it works just fine, so I would love to know what brand you use? If you try again, boil for 10 minutes and see if that thickens it for you. Also, did you use the coconut water or just the cream? Please let me know if you have any other questions.Thank you! xTieghan
Your lemon bar recipe was possibly the best thing I’ve ever eaten (and everyone else at Easter dinner agreed!), not gonna lie, squeezing fresh lemon juice and all that zest was laborious. Can I use pre-bought lemon juice in this recipe instead? Or is fresh squeezed better? I can’t wait to try this!
Hey Jessica!! Honestly, I think fresh squeezed lemon juice is really worth the extra effort. I know it’s such a pain, but it makes a difference in taste! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe (and so glad you loved the bars!!)! Thank you! xTieghan
This dessert was very easy to make and delicious, Took it to a dinner party and everybody loved it. Perfect Spring or Summer dessert.
I am so glad everyone loved this Syl! Thank you! xTieghan
Should coconut cream or coconut milk be used? Does it need to boil longer?
Hi there! You should be using coconut cream and you should boil it for 10 minutes. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan! This looks amazing. Could you let me know the approximate measurement of graham cracker crumbs in cups as we don’t get graham crackers here in Portugal so I’ll have to use other cookies. Thx!!!
Thank you Ines! xTieghan
Oooh my God thank you for the metric measures, that is game changer for me !!!!!!
And I can’t wait to do this recipe, it looks so perfect !!
Thank you so much Mélisande! xTieghan
This was delicious and It came together quickly! Everyone including kids really enjoyed it, especially the pretzel and graham crust! Served with blueberries. For me, took over an hour to set, but we ate it anyway as it was good enough for us =) Will definitely be adding it to my arsenal of desserts!
Thank you so much Steph! I am so glad you loved this! xTieghan
This came together so quick and easy. It was deliciously creamy and lemony. The crust is GOOD! I will be trying this recipe again with some different citrus fruits. In Florida we love key lime and sour orange. I can’t wait to try it! Thank you again!
Thank you Devon! xTieghan
I made this with coconut milk and it didn’t set! I’m wondering if I should have let it boil for more than 5 minutes. It thickened up in the fridge but after 6 hours it still hadn’t set so I threw it in the freezer. It wasn’t bad frozen, but the texture was too icy and not creamy enough. Any ideas?
Hey Mandy! I am not sure why but people seem to be having issues with using coconut cream. What brand coconut milk did you use? When I make it with coconut milk it works just fine, so I would love to know what brand you use? If you try again, boil for 10 minutes and see if that thickens it for you. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
This lemon Tart is amazing, simply and diabetic friendly..
Thank you Carmen! xTieghan
I made this last night and LOVED the crust! So delicious!
Thank you so much Alexandra! That is so amazing! xTieghan
This landed in my inbox just in time for a dinner party dessert assignment. It was SO easy to make, delicious, and everyone had seconds. The honey made it just sweet enough, which everyone commented on. The rustic, chunky pretzels gave the crust a great texture and slightly salty contrast to the filling. I upped the lemon zest and juice, just for my own preference (and because I accidentally put the original lemon juice measurement in with the cream in the pot to boil). I didn’t want to miss out on the bright/fresh lemony contrast, so I added more, post-boil to cover my mishap. Not sure if that was necessary, but more lemon is good for me, and it tasted wonderful. I used blueberries for the fruit decor. My effort needed an add’l 30 mins in the freezer to set up properly, but next time I won’t make it right before I need it, and then I won’t even be watching the clock at all. I would love to try this with buttermilk for even more tang.
SO PERFECT! I am so glad you tried this Kim! Thank you so much! xTieghan
This tart was amazing! We had people over for Memorial Day and this tart was a great hit, everyone loved it. It was perfect for a hot evening! I made both versions… a heavy cream and coconut milk tart. The cream version was perfect and went seamlessly (this is the one I served) My coconut milk version didn’t set… does this one require a longer boiling time? I used a full fat coco milk and did it exactly the same. Thanks Tieghan!
Hey Michelle! I am not sure why but people seem to be having issues with coconut milk. What brand coconut milk did you use? When I make it with coconut milk it works just fine, so would love to know what brand you used. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I am SO glad you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Help, I can’t find heavy cream here? Only whipping cream or super expensive fancy British import cream? Or am I missing some secret product? I love love lemon tart and would love to try this.
Hi Marianne! Use whipping cream, that will work great (it’s the same thing as heavy cream). Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
I made this tart yesterday. I changed out the pretzels for another cup of graham crackers because my husband dislike them .
When I tasted the filling after boiling it ,it was for my palate too sweet so I added another 4 tablespoons of the zest . I left the pie chill in the fridge for 3 hours before serving. The result was lovely however when I tasted it today it was absolutely amazing .
I look forward to trying some more of your recipes
Thank you so much Johanna! I am so glad you loved this recipe and I hope you continue to love my recipes!! xTieghan