Lemon is a demanding ingredient in pastry: its acidity needs balancing, or the dessert turns sharp and aggressive on the palate. Two simple ingredients tame it without masking it — honey and sea salt, a pairing more often associated with savoury food than sweets, yet remarkably effective on a lemon base.
Honey brings a round sweetness, different from white sugar: depending on its origin it carries floral or woody notes that complement the lemon's acidity instead of simply covering it. Used in the lemon curd itself, or drizzled over the meringue just before serving, it adds a depth that sugar alone can't provide.
Sea salt plays an almost invisible but essential role: a few crystals on the tart base or worked into the shortcrust wake up the palate and bring out the lemon flavour, on the same principle as salted butter caramel. Without it, a lemon tart can taste flat; with it, every bite gains dimension.
On the preparation side, balance is a matter of dosage: a pinch of sea salt in the shortcrust (just a few grams for a whole tart base), and a drizzle of honey — never a thick layer — over the meringue or folded in at the end of cooking the lemon curd, so as not to alter its texture.
This pairing isn't just a chef's curiosity: it largely explains why some lemon tartlets leave a stronger impression than others, even with similar base ingredients.
Our lemon meringue tartlet follows this same principle — shortcrust base, balanced lemon curd, light meringue — available individually in our trade catalogue, or on quote as a cocktail piece for your events.
40 min
15 min
120 min
6 tartelettes individuelles
Ingredients
- 200 g flour
- 100 g cold butter, diced
- 70 g icing sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 pinch of sea salt
- 3 lemons (juice and zest)
- 150 g sugar
- 3 eggs
- 100 g butter
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 2 egg whites
- 100 g sugar (for the meringue)
- 1 drizzle of honey (to finish)
- A few sea salt crystals (to finish)
Instructions
- Make the shortcrust pastry: rub the flour with the cold butter between your fingertips, add the icing sugar and sea salt, then work in the egg until you get a smooth ball. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- Roll out the pastry to 3 mm thick, line the tartlet moulds, prick the base with a fork. Blind bake for 15 minutes at 180°C (350°F), then let cool.
- Make the lemon curd: mix the lemon juice and zest with the sugar and eggs, cook over a bain-marie, stirring constantly, until thickened. Off the heat, stir in the diced butter, then the tablespoon of honey.
- Fill the cooled tart shells with the lemon curd. Chill for at least 1 hour.
- Whisk the egg whites with the sugar to a firm meringue. Pipe onto the tartlets and lightly brown with a kitchen torch or a few seconds under the grill.
- Just before serving, add a drizzle of honey and a few sea salt crystals to each tartlet.
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