Easy Jam and Lemon Curd Tarts

These Easy Jam and Lemon Curd Tarts have a buttery shortcrust pastry base with traditional tartlet fillings of raspberry jam and lemon curd. Created with 6 ingredients, these mini fruit tarts are the perfect addition to tea parties and lunch boxes.  

🍋 Why You Will Love This Recipe

• Easy 4 ingredient shortcrust pastry base. 

• Made without egg.

• Use raspberry jam or your jam of choice.

• Filled with lemon curd, either homemade or store-bought. 

• Perfect lunch box filler. 

• Freezer friendly. 

🍓 What Are Jam Tarts?

Jam tarts and lemon curd tarts are mini tarts made with a shortcrust pastry tart shell filled with berry jam and citrus curd. 

Jam tarts are popular in Australia, United Kingdom, and New Zealand. You can find them pre-made in supermarkets and bakeries. 

Making mini jam tarts at home is simple with this easy bakery-style jam and lemon curd tart recipe. 

With two tartlet filling options of jam and lemon curd to choose from, you can whip up a batch of these tarts fast. 

These easy jam tarts and lemon curd tartlets are a great addition to lunch boxes for work and school. 

Easy to store and take with you on the go for a quick snack. 

The shortcrust pastry tart shells are made without egg making the raspberry jam tarts egg free.

The lemon curd tarts are heavenly. They’re filled with a luscious lemon curd that you can make from scratch using my easy Lemon Curd Recipe or pick up a jar of pre-made lemon curd from the supermarket.

If you choose to make the lemon curd, the recipe linked above does use egg. If you prefer your lemon tarts to be made without egg, I recommend making or purchasing a jar of egg free lemon curd. 

🍊 Tartlet Filling Ideas

Don’t have raspberry jam or lemon curd? Below are some more tartlet filling ideas:

• Strawberry, blackberry, blueberry, or apricot jam. Or your favorite jam of choice. 
• Orange or passionfruit curd.
• Pastry cream.
• Chocolate ganache or Nutella. 
• Nut butter such as peanut or almond butter. 
• Caramel or butterscotch sauce. 
• Mousse.
• Whipped cream. 

If you’re interested in more recipes that include jam and lemon curd, try these:

• Classic Lemon Tart. 
• Classic Lemon Curd.
• 5 Ingredient Strawberry Crumble Bars. 
• Iced VoVo Biscuits. 
• Baked Hot Jam doughnuts. 

📖 Equipment Needed

Below is the equipment that you need to make these jam and lemon curd tartlets:

• Food processor – or a large mixing bowl using either your hands or pastry cutter. 

• 12 hole patty pan – is also known as a shallow tart pan. I use a pan just like this one here.

• Oven.

• Rolling pin.

• 6cm round fluted/scalloped cookie cutter.

• Teaspoon.

📋 Ingredient Notes & Substitutions

Here are the ingredients that you need to make these delicious jam and lemon curd tarts:

• Plain Flour – is also known as all purpose flour in the US.

• Icing sugar – is also known as confectioners sugar. 

• Unsalted Butter – needs to be chilled and cubed. 

• Cold water – needs to be cold. 

• Raspberry jam – substitute with strawberry or apricot jam, or your preferred flavor of jam. 

• Lemon curd – make homemade or use store-bought. Substitute with orange or passionfruit curd. 

🥣 Step By Step Instructions (with photos)

How to make jam tarts and lemon curd tartlets from scratch in 8 easy steps!

A full and detailed recipe card is at the bottom of this post.

Step one: Add flour and icing sugar to a high-speed food processor. Pulse to combine. Don’t have a food processor? Refer to note one below in the recipe card for an alternate method. 

Step two: Add the butter and pulse for 15 seconds until the mixture resembles a coarse crumb.

Step three: Through the vertical shoot, drizzle a tablespoon at a time of the chilled water while pulsing the mixture until it sticks together and forms a rough dough. 

Step four: Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured bench top and bring it together by lightly kneading it into a smooth ball of dough. Ensuring not to over-knead. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. 

Step five: Roll the dough out to a large 40-45cm circle, approx. 4mm-5mm in thickness. Cut out the round bases using the cookie cutter. 

Step six: Place them gently into the greased patty pan. Lightly push the sides of the dough down into the shallow wells. 

Step seven: Fill each crust with 2 level teaspoons of the jam and lemon curd. Fill them up just below the top to avoid the filling from boiling over in the oven as the pastry crust will shrink slightly during baking.

Step eight: Bake for 18-20 minutes. Remove and allow them to cool. Serve and enjoy!

💭 Tips For Recipe Success

• Don’t have a food processor? – use a large mixing bowl and your hands instead to make the shortcrust pastry! Read note one in the recipe card below for detailed instructions.

• Use a shallow tart pan, also known as a patty pan – just like this one here. You can also use it to make fruit mince pies!

• Don’t roll your shortcrust pastry too thin – the tart shells need to be strong enough to hold the fillings. Roll it out until it’s 4mm-5mm in thickness. If they’re too thick, they won’t hold enough filling. 

• Don’t fill your tart shells up to the top – fill them just below the top edge. This ensures the filling won’t bubble and boil over during baking, as the pastry crusts will shrink slightly in the oven. 

⏲️ Storage Instructions

Store jam and lemon curd tarts in a sealed Tupperware container, at room temperature for 1-2 days then refrigerated for 3-4 days. Or refrigerate them the entire time if your home is humid or hot during the warmer months. 

Freeze jam tarts and lemon curd tarts individually wrapped in plastic cling film and placed into a sealed Tupperware container and frozen for up to 3 months. 

Thaw tarts at room temperature for several hours or overnight until defrosted. 

💬 Recipe FAQ’s

🥄 Related Recipes

If you enjoy this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐️ star rating and a comment review below. I love to hear what you think and it’s much appreciated. Thank you! Your email address will not be published. Sam x

Easy Jam and Lemon Curd Tarts

Samantha Pickthall

These Easy Jam and Lemon Curd Tarts have a shortcrust pastry base filled with raspberry jam and lemon curd. Perfect for tea parties and lunch boxes!

4.20 from 5 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe SaveSaved!

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Chill Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course Dessert, Snack

Servings 24 tartlets

Calories 102 kcal

Equipment

• 6cm round fluted/scalloped cookie cutter

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

Shortcrust Pastry Base

• ▢ 2 cups (300g) plain all purpose flour, scoop & leveled
• ▢ 1/2 cup icing/confectioners sugar
• ▢ 180 g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
• ▢ 4 Tbsp cold water, cold tap water is fine

Fillings

• ▢ 1 jar raspberry jam, store-bought or homemade
• ▢ 1 jar lemon curd, homemade or store-bought

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

 

Shortcrust Pastry Base

• In a high-speed food processor, add flour and icing sugar. Pulse a couple of times to blend. NOTE: don't have a food processor? Read note one below for an alternative method.
• Add the chilled cubed butter and pulse for 15 seconds until the mixture resembles a coarse crumb.
• Through the vertical shoot, drizzle a tablespoon at a time of the chilled water while pulsing the mixture until it sticks together and forms a rough dough. If the dough is still too dry, add a little more water until it sticks together.
• Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured bench top or a large board. Bring the dough together and lightly knead it into a smooth ball of dough, ensuring not to over-knead, just until the dough comes together in a ball.
• Flatten the dough into a thick disc and wrap it in plastic cling film. Transfer dough to the refrigerator and chill for 15 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF). Liberally grease with butter a 12-hole shallow tart pan (patty pan) and set aside. You will bake the tart shells in batches as it makes 24 tarts. Use 2 patty pans if you have another.
• Remove from the refrigerator and onto a lightly floured bench top or large board.
• Roll the dough out to a large 40-45cm circle, approx. 4mm-5mm in thickness.
• Using a 6cm fluted round cookie cutter, cut out the round bases.
• Place them gently into the greased patty pan. Lightly push the sides of the dough down into the shallow wells.
• Repeat with the remaining dough, re-rolling any excess to create more bases.
• Fill each crust with 2 level teaspoons of the jam and lemon curd. Fill them up just below the top to avoid the filling from boiling over in the oven as the pastry crust will shrink slightly during baking.
• TIP: Fill 12 crusts with jam and the other 12 with curd to have an equal amount of each. Or fill them just with jam or just with curd if desired.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes until the pastry crust is lightly golden around the edges. It’s ok if some of the crusts still look pale.
• Remove from the oven and allow them to cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
• Carefully remove the tarts from the pan and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. I like to use a butter knife to easily pop them out of the pan. Tarts will firm up once they cool.
• Serve and Enjoy!
• Store tartlets in a sealed Tupperware container, at room temperature for 2 days or refrigerated for 4-5 days.

Notes

Note one: Instead of using a food processor, combine the flour and icing sugar in a large mixing bowl. Then using either your hands or a pastry cutter, rub the chilled cubed butter into the flour for a few minutes until it resembles a coarse crumb. Drizzle in the cold water one tablespoon at a time, mixing with your hands or a wooden spoon until it forms a rough dough. Then follow step four and onwards in the above method. 

Note two: Use a shallow tart pan, also known as a patty pan, just like this one here. You can also use it to make fruit mince pies!

Note three: Make sure your butter is chilled and cut into cubes, doesn’t matter how big or small the cubes are. The water is best used cold but you can use tap water as well. 

Note four: Don’t roll your shortcrust pastry too thin as they need to be strong enough to hold the fillings. Roll it out until it’s 4mm-5mm in thickness. If they’re too thick, they won’t hold enough filling. 

Note five: Don’t fill your tart shells up to the top with the fillings. Fill them just below the top edge. This ensures the filling won’t bubble and boil over during baking, as the pastry crusts will shrink slightly in the oven. 

Note six: Substitute the fillings for your choice of jam such as strawberry, blackberry, or apricot jam. Substitute the lemon curd for a passionfruit or orange curd. Or make them just all jam tarts or just all lemon curd tarts. 

Note seven: Don’t have the time to make the pastry tart shells? No problems! Simply purchase pre-made mini tart shells from the store and fill them with jam and lemon curd. Do not use puff pastry tart shells as they puff up too much, making them too delicate to handle and they won’t hold as much filling. 

Store tartlets in a sealed Tupperware container, at room temperature for 1-2 days then refrigerated for 3-4 days. Or refrigerate them the entire time if your home is humid or hot during the warmer months. 

Freeze jam tarts and lemon curd tarts individually wrapped in plastic cling film and placed into a sealed Tupperware container and frozen for up to 3 months. 

Thaw tarts at room temperature for several hours or overnight until defrosted. 

Nutrition

Calories: 102kcalCarbohydrates: 11gProtein: 1gFat: 6gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.3gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 1mgPotassium: 13mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 3gVitamin A: 187IUVitamin C: 0.004mgCalcium: 3mgIron: 0.5mg

Keyword tartlets, tarts

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If you enjoy this recipe, please consider leaving a ⭐️ star rating and a comment review below. I love to hear what you think and it’s much appreciated. Thank you! Your email address will not be published. Sam x