I bought ingredients to make popsicles the other day. My plan was to make summery, fruity popsicles with flavors like strawberry and blueberry and horchata, maybe even layered to make a real foods version of a Bomb Pop. Perfect for Memorial Day weekend! And then I started seeing them pop (heh) up all over on social media and decided that there were plenty of good popsicle recipes out there** already. Plus, my freezer’s way too full.
Blueberry Lemon Tart
And then the kids ate the strawberries, sealing the deal. I’m not complaining because they also made whipped cream to go with them and offered me a bowl. They even sort of cleaned up!
So this morning, I woke up with a good deal of blueberries, coconut milk in the fridge and a serious chill coming through the open window. It definitely feels like the beginning of summer in San Francisco. Brrrr.
A blueberry tart was in order, and since blueberries are my favorite berry, I decided to pair them with my favorite fruit- lemon curd.
This tart may look fancy and time consuming, but it’s really not. See how the blueberries are arranged in the tart like that? They’re not arranged at all, because when you drop them into the pre-baked custard, they put themselves in place just perfectly, without any assistance. In fact, making this lovely tart might be easier than making popsicles. Easier than rearranging your freezer, anyway.
I don’t want to tell you what to do with your life, but if I were, I’d tell you to make this tart the second blueberry season starts.
Blueberry Lemon Tart
- Yield: 8 servings
- Category: Dessert
Ingredients
for the crust:
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, (melted)
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
- 1 tablespoons coconut flour
- 1/3 teaspoon sea salt
for the filling:
- zest of one lemon, (plus extra for garnish, if desired)
- 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/3 cup coconut cream, (from a chilled, unshaken can of coconut milk*)
- 1 pint fresh blueberries
Instructions
To make the crust:
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- whisk together the eggs, coconut oil and honey. Mix in the almond flour, arrowroot, coconut flour, and sea salt. Stir to combine and knead a couple of times to make sure it’s well incorporated.
- Press the dough into a 9″ tart pan. Using thin strips of aluminum foil, loosely cover the sides of the crust. Poke the bottom of the crust all over with a fork.
- Bake for 12 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil.
To make the filling:
- Whisk together the lemon zest, lemon juice, eggs, honey and coconut cream.
- Pour into the prepared crust. If the sides of your crust don’t go to the very top of the pan, you might have more filling than you need. Just fill the crust to wherever the sides reach to. Drop in the blueberries.
- Bake for 25-32 minutes, or until the filling is mostly set. It will still be a little jiggly when it’s done, and will set more as it cools.
- Allow to cool completely before serving, about one hour.
Notes
Coconut milk will separate when chilled, so you’ll be able to use just the cream that settles on top. After removing from the fridge, turn over the can and open the bottom. Pour off the water, and you’ll be left with the thick cream.
** Wishing I made popsicles instead? Check out these recipes from my friends:
Mango Lassi Popsicles from Slim Palate
Ginger Berry Lime Ice Pops from So Let’s Hang Out
Lava Flow Ice Pops from Nom Nom Paleo
And here’s a whole popsicle roundup from Savory Lotus!
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Debbie says
Wow, Simone, this looks so beautiful. I am going to make it tomorrow. You’re a genius!!!
Joanna says
YUMMO!!!
Catti says
Looks fantastic! Will bake it for my mum. She loves blueberries and lemon. Thank you for another great recipe!
zenbellyblog says
How nice of you! I hope your mum loves it 🙂
D D says
Is there a way to make it without eggs?
zenbellyblog says
not that I know of 🙁 If you find an egg-free lemon curd recipe, you could sub the filling for that! You should be able to use gelatin instead of the egg in the crust, but I haven’t tried it so can’t make any promises.
realchickorganics says
Can this be made in advance or is better to eat it the same day?
zenbellyblog says
I think it’s best the same day, but it’s still good the next day! The crust might get a little bit softer, and the blueberries might bleed into the lemon curd a bit. That being said, I brought this to a brunch the day after I made it for the blog and everyone still loved it 🙂
Paola says
Thanks so much for your answer. One last question, do I need to grease the pan? I’m very much a novice baker, so I apologize if this is a dumb question
zenbellyblog says
Don’t worry! Please don’t ever hesitate to ask. I did not grease the pan, using a metal tart pan. The fat in the almond flour should be enough to keep it from sticking.
Asaam Vartanian says
This was way out of my comfort zone. I’ve never made a cake from a box, much less a tart. I don’t even know why there was a 13-inch tart pan in my cupboard. But there it was, and here was the recipe, so the devil on my shoulder whispered, “You can do it! It’ll be fun!” I improvised by scaling up the recipe amounts by 50%, but I needed 3 eggs and a dash more honey and another 1T of coconut oil to make the crust, which had me sweating bullets. I kept trying to mix the “dough” with a wooden spatula, which broke it, which is when I remembered that I needed to knead the mixture by hand a bit.
Then I found out what happens when you combine cold coconut cream with room-temp honey: the honey gels. Whisking a gel into a liquid filling mixture without splashing the mixture all over the counter took some ingenuity, and I’m glad I work out.
But the experiment was a complete success. Even my wife, who’s as finicky as Morris the Cat, liked it.
Girl, you are a genius!
Asaam Vartanian says
One small quibble: eggs are considered dairy, so this recipe isn’t dairy-free.
zenbellyblog says
That’s funny, I didn’t realize that eggs came from cows or goats or any other animal that produced milk. You might want to rethink your quibble! 😉
Alex says
Hi! I’ve made this once before and it was delicious. I’m hoping to make it again for a dinner party tomorrow but will be working all day. If I prebake the crust today and leave it unfilled for a day, refrigerated, do you think that would work? Similarly, could I prepare the filling in the morning minus blueberries and leave for husband to finish off and bake right before the party? Or would the lemon and eggs do funny things…
Thanks in advance…
zenbellyblog says
The crust can definitely be made ahead. The filling I’m not so sure about… It might do funny things texture-wise. The whole thing can be made ahead; it’s still good the next day, but doesn’t always look as pretty.
Jennifer says
Just curious has anyone tried frozen blueberries? It’s all I have right now, and I’m going for it.
zenbellyblog says
How’d it go? I’ve only used fresh, but would love to use frozen in the winter when fresh are hard to find (and shipped from who knows where)
Danielle B says
OK, so my Mom invited us for dinner, but felt my new dairy free/grain free was a too challenging for her (she’s not really into dessert). “What do you usually have for dessert?”, she said. “I usually don’t have dessert” I replied. “Fine, you bring dessert, then!” was her solution.
So this is the first dessert I’ve made since I’ve been on this diet. I happened to have all the ingredients to make it, including organic blueberries I had frozen from my Community Supported Agriculture basket.
My pan is 11 inches. I found I had to double up the dough recipe (made three wonderful cookies from leftover dough, BTW). The amount of filling was just right, and I just filled with frozen blueberries until it looked right. It worked out great. Can’t wait to taste it.
Danielle B says
This pie is delicious! I used only half the amount of zest required by the recipe, but everyone agreed it was still a bit too much. Blueberries have a delicate flavour when cooked, so I will only use a quarter of the required zest the next time.
With nine family members on my “taste panel”, some found it too tangy and not sweet enough, while others found it just right for tanginess and sweetness.
I will definitely make this again! Thanks for the great recipe, everyone wants it now
Sylvie says
Hi, what could I use instead of arrowroot powder ?? I don’t have that 🙁
zenbellyblog says
Tapioca starch works great too. Do you have that?
Danielle says
Arrowroot and tapioca starches are used as healthier alternatives to corn starch. So if you really have no intolerances to it and have no other alternatives, you could use corn starch.
Sylvie says
OK ! Thanks a lot 🙂
Erin says
If I make this ahead should it be kept at room temp or in the refrigerator?
zenbellyblog says
I would keep it in the fridge.
Erin says
Thanks!
Sara says
Hi, I want to make this for my dad for father’s day. Should this be cooled on the counter for one hour and then kept in the fridge until served? I’ll be making it in the morning & then we’ll be eating it after dinner. Also, has anyone had success using corn starch instead of arrowroot? Thanks!
zenbellyblog says
Yes, cool on the counter and then in the fridge until ready to serve (or it can be out for a bit before serving too if you don’t want it ice cold) I haven’t personally tried corn starch, but know that arrowroot is often subbed for it, so there’s a chance it would work fine. I sub tapioca for arrowroot often as well, if that helps.
Sara says
Thanks! I know arrowroot and cornstarch are sometimes used in different quantities and aren’t necessarily a 1 to 1 sub, so I’ll just pick up some arrowroot to make sure the recipe works.
Heather says
Turned out much better than expected! It was really too Tart…. No sweet. I think I will add some Stevia to it next time. Definitely worth making again, and definitely worth it to those of us who cannot have sugar or desserts.
zenbellyblog says
Definitely tweak it as you like! I think it’s the perfect combination of sweet-tart, but if you’re accustomed to the taste of stevia-sweetened things, you may prefer a more pronounced sweet flavor.
rlchilders says
I love this recipe. I substitute huckleberries for blueberries since they are more common in our area. Huckleberries are smaller and slightly more tart than blueberries. But I think a tart should be tart, so it works for me. I have used frozen huckleberries previously with this recipe, but I did thaw them slightly before using. Turned out great. Because blueberries are larger, I think they may be difficult to use without thawing for this recipe as the moisture from freezing may interfere with the gelling of the custard.
zenbellyblog says
I love that you’re using what’s local to you! I bet this was incredible with huckleberries 🙂
Amy says
Thank you thank you thank you! This is my new go-to recipe for desert. Even my mother, who despises anything gluten-free or paleo, has requested that I bring this to dinner many times!
zenbelly says
That’s so great to hear, Amy! I’m so glad you love it, and I especially love it when the gluten-free haters love my recipes. 🙂 Thanks for the nice note!
Baron says
What do you do with leftover filling?
zenbelly says
I sometimes cook it in a ramekin if there’s enough left to bother with. I’ve also been making a 10″ version recently, and doubling the crust recipe, keeping the filling the same, and it fills it up.
Jasmine Minor says
I just made this today and the middle is still a bit giggly even after cooled on the counter…I put it in the fridge now hoping it will set more but if not, should I bake it more? I don’t mind eating it with the middle being a bit liquid but am worried about the raw eggs in the batter if that’s something I should be concerned about…it’s sooo yummy though!!
zenbelly says
it should be cooked enough to be safe, egg-wise, but if you would rather it be firmer you can bake it more I guess? I’m not sure how it will turn out being cooled and baked and cooled again though.
Theresa says
So easy to make. So delicious.
Caitlin says
Hi Simone! I am attempting to make a grain free lemon apricot tart for a twist on the traditional French Christmas dessert. The first place I thought of looking for inspiration was your site of course. ☺️ If I am going to leave the blueberries out but add a thin layer of apricot compote, should I increase the amount of lemon curd filling to compensate for the loss in volume? Any advice appreciated! Thank you as always for the incredible work you do on this blog. Your content has changed my approach to nutrition and a joyful diet.
zenbelly says
Hi Caitlin, That sounds lovely! I’m trying to recall… I think the curd normally goes up to the tippy top when I make this, so the amount of curd might be find even without the blueberries. To be safe, you could always 1.5x the recipe and bake any extra in ramekins.
I really appreciate the kind words so very much, thank you! <3
Caitlin says
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! ☺️ I’ll try that and let you know how it goes!
Jeanette says
Delicious!!!!
Jillian says
I love this recipe! I’ve made it a dozen times at least. Everyone always loves it, regardless of their dietary choices. I always read recipe comments for tips/subs so I thought I’d leave a few here. The filling recipe is super flexible. I have used maple syrup instead of honey, and a mixture of both. I have also used heavy cream instead of coconut cream in the same proportions, works perfectly if you’re primal (we are). Most recently I had a birthday tea party for my daughter and one guest couldn’t have both dairy and coconut so I used cashew cream (again, same proportions). It turned out fabulously!
I’ve also used frozen blueberries, works fine! I find they can bleed a little more but it’s still lovely.
Lastly, I tried bottled lemon juice (gasp) the kind that’s not from concentrate plus the zest and juice from one fresh lemon. We couldn’t tell! That was purely in the name of research and using what my aunt had on hand when visiting her. Thanks for your tried and true recipes Simone!
zenbelly says
Thanks, Jillian! I’m so glad to hear that all your adaptations worked out well, so good to know.