Blueberry lemon crumble tart is an easy dessert recipe that just works ~ and it keeps on giving season after season with different fruits and fillings.
Don't Lose This Recipe!
Enter your email and I'll send it to you!
This blueberry-lemon crumble tart is a forever recipe ~ one that’s followed me from kitchen to kitchen, and from season to season, adapting to different ingredients and flavors. Always reliable and always a joy to bake.
If you frequent this site you know I have a mini obsession with shortbread, shortbread cookies, and shortbread crumbles of all sorts.
This particular tart has a lemon infused shortbread crust and a sweet-tart fresh blueberry lemon filling. It’s hard to beat it for an easy but elegant bake that works at home or on the road. Try it and see what I mean.
This dessert is made with everyday ingredients you no doubt already have. And if you don’t have blueberries you can sub in another fruit or jam.
Blueberries: for this I use fresh berries. If you need to use frozen, consider cooking the filling until it comes to a boil in a saucepan.
Lemon sugar: it’s where I process lemon peel with sugar and it provides a nice lemon flavor throughout the crust.
Shortbread crust and crumble: it’s the same dough, making this quick and easy ~ no extra bowl to mix up a separate crumble. A handful of rolled oats gives it extra texture.
a shortbread crumble tart process you can use over and over
- Make lemon sugar.
- Mix up shortbread dough.
- Divide dough and press 2/3 into your pan.
- Top with fresh fruit filling.
- Crumble remaining dough over the berries.
- Bake until golden and bubbling.
variations on blueberry lemon crumble tart
Soft or crunchy?
- This tart is delicious either way, and it comes down to baking time. A little less time in the oven will yield a soft tart to eat with a fork. A little more baking and you’ll have a crunchier hand-holdable bar.
More berries
- All kinds of berries work, especially raspberries and blackberries. Sliced strawberries too. Why not make a mixed berry tart?
No fresh fruit?
- Use your favorite jar of jam, marmalade, or lemon curd.
Play with flour
- You can use part whole wheat, white whole wheat (for a more tender result,) part oat flour, or part buckwheat flour. Make a gluten free blueberry lemon crumble tart with a 1:1 gf baking mix.
Add nuts
- I use rolled oats in the topping, but you can sub chopped nuts like walnuts, almonds, or pecans (or sunflower seeds for a nut free topping.)
Add The View from Great Island as a Trusted Google Source
Blueberry Lemon Crumble Tart
Equipment
- 9 inch tart pan or springform pan
Ingredients
filling*
- 2 cups blueberries, heaped
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
crust and crumble topping
- peeled zest of 1 lemon
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 Tbsp rolled oats, for the crumble topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour your 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom.
- Toss the 2 cups blueberries with the 2 Tbsp granulated sugar, 2 Tbsp lemon juice and 1 Tbsp cornstarch. Mix well, and set aside.
- In a food processor process the peeled zest of 1 lemon and 2/3 cup granulated sugar until the zest is competley incorporated and you have a fragrant pale yellow sugar.
- In a stand mixer or with electric beaters cream the 1 cup unsalted butter with the lemon sugar you just made until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract and 1/4 tsp salt. Note: it's important that your butter be at room temperature. I like to leave it out overnight when I know I'll be baking.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add the 2 cups all purpose flour and mix just until there is no dry flour left. Don't over beat but do make sure all the butter is incorporated.
- Take 2/3 of the dough and pat it into the bottom of your tart pan. I like to scatter the dough in crumbles across the bottom, and then start to pat it down. It helps to flour your fingers, or use the bottom of a metal measuring cup to tamp it down. Take the time to get the dough evenly distributed. Note: you're not looking to go up the sides of the pan with the dough, just to make an even flat layer. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
- Mix the remaining dough with the 2 Tbsp rolled oats, breaking it apart with your fingers to make coarse crumbles.
- Arrange the blueberries on top of the bottom crust. Top evenly with the crumbled dough. Allow some of the berries to show through.
- Set the tart pan on a baking sheet, and bake in the preheated oven for about 35 minutes, or until the top is just starting to turn pale golden.
- Let the tart cool for 15 minutes on a rack before releasing the bottom from the sides. Finish cooling on the rack.
- When cool slice the tart into 8 or 10 slices. Serve as is, or with some lightly sweetened whipped cream.
Notes
- I like my fruit and fruit fillings on the tart side, hence the lemon juice. If your berries are tart to begin with, or you just prefer things a bit sweeter, you can reduce or omit the lemon juice.
Can I freeze this after I’ve made it and warm up later? (Blueberry lemon crumble tart)
Yes, shortbread freezes well. Just be sure it’s completely completely cool before you double wrap it, and try to use within a few months.
Going to break a speed record going to the kitchen to make this! 😊
The recipe calls for a springform pan. I have a couple glass/porcelain ripple edge tart pans../do these work for this recipe?
Yes, you can use a tart pan, but if it doesn’t have a removable bottom you’ll have to serve it right from the pan. Not a problem, but the slices won’t be as neat.