Simple vegan lemon tart with a classic buttery shortcrust pastry and creamy eggless lemon curd filling. Light, zesty and uses only 6 key ingredients!
This lemon pie is perfect as a Spring dessert or when life simply throws you lemons! We've all had situations like that, right?! This tart also works well as lemon bars. Or if you prefer something lemony but reaaalllly creamy, check out my vegan lemon cheesecake recipe :).
Ingredients to make this vegan lemon tart
This tart uses common pantry ingredients and NO tofu! You will need:
- Plain or all-purpose flour (gluten free options are provided in the recipe card)
- Vegan butter, margarine or coconut oil
- Sugar, rice malt syrup or maple syrup (or sweetener of choice)
- Lemon juice and zest. Fresh is best!
- Coconut cream
- Corn starch / flour
Normally lemon curd gets its yellow hue from eggs so I added a pinch of turmeric instead. The tart has a melt in your mouth shortcrust pastry and a smooth custard-like zesty filling. The coconut flavour in the filling is balanced out with lots of lemon.
Making the pie crust
Simply add all the pastry ingredients (flour, butter and sugar) to a food processor or mixing bowl and mix until combined. You can roll out the pastry on a floured surface and transfer it to your tart tin. Alternatively you can press the pastry directly into your tart tin.
The pie shell will need to be baked for 5-10 minutes. However, this is the only baking you'll need to do!
Making the vegan lemon curd filling
It's very easy to make eggless lemon curd! Add all the ingredients (coconut cream, lemon and sugar) to a heavy-based medium saucepan. Whisk the cornflour before heating it to prevent it from clumping up. Then heat the mixture for 5-10 minutes until it's a thin custard consistency.
The mixture will set quickly so pour it into your pre-baked pie crust.
Decorating the vegan lemon tart
The tart or pie is beautiful without any decorations! However, you can decorate it the classic way with a light dusting of icing/powdered sugar.
For a touch of 'freshness', I topped mine with fresh raspberries and coconut cream. It'd also go really well with strawberries or blueberries.
If you're feeling fancy, you can use this tart as a base of a vegan lemon meringue pie!
Substitutions
For those who are gluten free, I've provided ratios for a vegan gluten free pie crust in the grey recipe card below.
If you are avoiding coconut, you can use silken tofu (to create a pudding-like tart) or plant-based milk (to create a soft wobbly tart) in the same amounts as coconut cream.
If you do this, cook the filling in your saucepan for around 15-20 minutes or until it forms a THICK custard. Unlike coconut cream, tofu and milk doesn't have natural fats so those substiutions will make your tart less sturdy.
See my other vegan lemon dessert recipes
- Whole Lemon Cake
- Lemon Olive Oil Cake
- Easy Lemon Blueberry Cake
- Blueberry Lemon Bars
- No Bake Lemon Cheesecake
- Easy Vegan Lemon Drizzle Cake
- Vegan Lemon Blueberry Sheet Cake
- PIstachio Avocado Lemon Cake
You may also like:
Vegan Lemon Tart
Ingredients
Shortcrust pastry
- 1 ¼ cups (155g) all-purpose plain flour, (note 1 for gluten free)
- ⅓ cup (75g) vegan butter or margarine
- 3 tablespoons (35g) granulated sugar, or coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon (15g) cold water, if needed
Lemon filling
- 1 ¾ cups (420g) thick scoopable canned coconut cream
- ¼-1/2 cup (50-100g ) granulated sugar, or liquid sweetener to taste
- ~⅓ cup (80g) lemon juice and zest, to taste
- ⅓ cup (35g) corn starch / corn flour
- 2 tablespoons (30g) vegan butter or coconut oil, optional for texture
- Pinch of turmeric
To decorate (optional)
- Whipped dairy free cream
- Fresh berries
Instructions
To make the pastry:
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease or line a 20 cm (8 inch) loose-bottom tart tin.
- Mix all the pastry ingredients in a medium size bowl or food processor. If the mixture is too crumbly, add some extra water and mix until it becomes a pliable dough. If the mixture is too wet, add a little more flour and mix again.
- On a floured surface, roll out the pastry into a thin circle about 5 mm (¼ inch) thick. Transfer the pastry to the tart tin and press it against the base and sides to form a crust. Trim off the excess. If there are any holes, patch it up with the remaining pastry. Prick the bottom with a fork to let hot air escape when baking.
- Bake the crust for 10-15 minutes, or until the pastry is slightly golden. Allow the pastry to cool in the tart tin.
To make the filling:
- Add all ingredients to a medium-size saucepan and whisk to disperse the corn flour.
- Bring to medium-high heat for 5-10 minutes while whisking constantly. The mixture should thicken quickly and coat the back of a spatula. If there are any lumps in the mixture, blend using a stick blender.
- Quickly pour the mixture into your baked tart shell and smooth the top if necessary. Allow the tart to set in the fridge for at least 3 hours.
To serve:
- When the tart is firm to the touch, decorate as desired. Serve immediately!
- The tart can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Best to keep the tart without berries on top otherwise they will leak.
Notes
- For a gluten free vegan lemon tart, use ⅔ cup (65g) almond meal/flour and ⅔ cup (105g) gluten-free flour blend which has xantham gum.
Nutrition
Please leave a comment below if you made this recipe, have any questions or thoughts! Your comment will help other readers and Rainbow Nourishments.
Hi!
Do you use sweetened coconut cream or unsweetened? Would love to know what brand you use so I can follow the recipe to a t!
Thanks for sharing!
Hey! I used unsweetened coconut cream. I'm based in Australia so will have different brands from you. But I'd recommend any coconut cream which is thick, white and creamy and can be scooped easily with a spoon. I hope that helps!
This looks amazing!
Is there anything can can be subbed for the coconut? I cannot eat coconut. Could silken tofu be used instead?
Thank you in advance.
Hey! Yes, tofu can be used, though it'll create a completeltly different texture. There are instructions under 'Substitutions' in the recipe post about how to do this!
Just wondering do you mean to use just 1 can of coconut cream OR the total amount of coconut cream should be 420g so depending on the thick cream part in the can we may need a few cans to get the 420g? Does that make sense? I feel like I’m over thinking this? 🙈
Hey, you're not over thinking! The 420g should be just the thick part of the can of coconut cream (though, a little water is fine if you really can't get that amount). It depends on the brand of coconut cream but I often only need 1 can of cream or 2 at the maximum. Hope that helps!
I made this the other day, haven't made pastry in so long so I was a little nervous.
The recipe was great and the whole thing turned out amazing!
My whole family loved it, they couldn't compliment it enough.
I'll definitely be making it again!!!!
Aw I'm so happy everything worked for you! I hear you about making pastry after a long break :). Thanks so much for your feedback x
Making it a second time as I'm writing this. SUCH a good recipe, thank you!
Aw I'm soo glad to hear! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment x
I just made this; why does the filling look like all fat? It tastes great but it looks like thickened Coconut oil. I followed recipe exactly. Thank you
Hey, the filling is definitely not meant to look like that! Did you use coconut cream or creamed coconut? It sounds like the brand of coconut that you used reacted strangely to the other ingredients.
I work at a vegetarian/vegan restaurant. Made a larger batch of both the filling and the crust and made them into mini tarts. Topped them with whipped coconut cream and berries. They were a hit! I couldn't keep up with the demand and was making them almost everyday.
Oh that's the nicest feedback, thank you so much! I'm so happy that your customers enjoyed this! 🙂
I just made this, it was delicious! I put 70 g sugar in the cake and I think I'm going to go for 100 g next time. Thank you very much for the recipe 🙂
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Also yes, I hear you - I don't like overly sweet things but with so much lemon juice, sometimes you need it! Thanks for your feedback 🙂
I used Oatly Whipping Cream instead of coconut cream and it turned out really well.
So glad to hear! Thanks Kieran!
Been waiting for this one! Definitely going to try it soon
Yay! Let me know how you go!