Rosemary and lemon have been coming to me the whole week and I knew I had to create a recipe with these two ingredients for you. I’ve started with baking Rosemary Lemon Madeleines but I really wanted to create something refreshing and healthier and more of a statement piece for Easter and so this Rosemary Lemon Tart was born.
It’s light, fresh, zesty, everything you’d expect from a lemon tart with a slight hint of rosemary and lovely almond coconut crust. Decorated with beautiful flowering rosemary sprigs, few lemon slices, a little bit of dried marigold & few spring blossoms. The folky look is really me and I so enjoyed creating something beautiful this week.
It took me a while to adjust to the new schedule we’ve all found ourselves in, home schooling my 11 year old son and finding a new balance. I’m not falling into the fear consciousness too much because I know there is divine timing and unfolding in everything and I’m actually experiencing a lot of peace. My heart is full of love and my soul feels at peace. Every day I pray for New Earth, meditate, connect to nature and dance moving this energy through my body. Feeling what needs to be felt and letting go and letting go some more of the old that no longer serves me.
I have originally baked this tart with two layers; a layer of lemon curd at the bottom and a layer of the lemon agar filling. You can see the two layers in the photo. They actually taste very similar and so I’ve decided to adjust the recipe to only one filling as I thought it will be much easier to make as well. This way you can choose the filling that you prefer. If you choose to create the lemon curd layer I recommend topping it with whipped cream as it’s little more concentrated than the agar layer and slightly less amount.
I’ve added oats to the crust because I felt it needed drier texture, I found only the almonds and coconut little too oily. But you can leave them out and increase the other two ingredients if you rather avoid using oats. Alternatively, you can use dates instead of maple syrup, coconut oil and water and leave the crust raw.
You can also infuse the filling with a rosemary sprig if you like.
Rosemary Lemon Tart (vegan & gluten-free)
Ingredients
Tart crust:
- 150g ground almonds (1 1/2 cups)
- 50g desiccated coconut (1/2 cup)
- 50g oats (1/2 cup)
- pinch sea salt
- 1tsp chopped fresh rosemary
- zest of 1/2 lemon
- 2tbsp maple syrup
- 2tbsp coconut oil
- 1 to 2tsp water
Filling choice 1 - Lemon agar filling:
- 400ml can of coconut cream (1 2/3 cups)
- zest of 2 lemons (add at the end)
- juice of 2 lemons
- 60ml maple syrup (1/4 cup)
- 2tsp vanilla extract
- turmeric powder
- 3tbsp agar flakes
Filling choice 2 - Lemon curd filling:
- zest of 3 lemons (add at the end)
- juice of 3 lemons
- 240ml almond milk (1 cup)
- 80ml maple syrup (1/3 cup)
- 2tsp vanilla extract
- 4tbsp cornflour
- turmeric powder
- 4tbsp coconut oil (60ml, 1/4 cup)
- whipped coconut cream for the top
Topping:
- lemon slices
- fresh rosemary sprigs
Instructions
- Grease 9" tart tin with removable base with little coconut oil and optionally line the base with baking paper.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C (340F)
- Place ground almonds, desiccated coconut and oats into a food processor and blend until ground. Add salt, chopped rosemary, lemon zest, maple syrup and coconut oil and blend until the mixture comes together. Add water as needed to have a sticky mixture when pressed together.
- Spoon the crust mix into the tart tin, spread evenly onto the base and around the edges to create the crust. Don't go all the way up, about ¾ high. The crust edge on mine was about ¾" tall.
- Place into the oven and bake for about 10 minutes just until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool down.
- Lemon agar filling:
- In a medium pot whisk together coconut cream, lemon juice, maple syrup, vanilla, good pinch of turmeric and agar flakes and bring to a boil. Gently simmer for about 10 minutes stirring frequently until the flakes have dissolved. Stir in lemon zest. At this point you can blend the mix if the zest is not fine enough and you'd like completely smooth finish. Leave to slightly cool down and pour onto the crust. Place into fridge for about an hour to set.
- Lemon curd filling:
- In a medium pot whisk together lemon juice, milk, maple syrup, vanilla, cornflour and a good pinch of turmeric and bring to boil while whisking continuously. Leave to cook for one minute and take off the heat. Stir in lemon zest and coconut oil. Pour onto the crust and place into fridge for about an hour to set. Top with whipped coconut cream.
- Before serving top the tart with few lemon slices and fresh rosemary sprigs.
- Store in fridge.
- Enjoy!
Notes
I have originally baked the tart with a layer of lemon curd and a layer of the lemon agar filling as you can see on the photo. They taste very similar and so I've adjusted the recipe with only one filling and you can choose the filling that you prefer. I recommend topping the lemon curd one with whipped cream.
You can also infuse the filling with a rosemary sprig if you like.
Add enough turmeric powder to get the desired colour.
You can substitute maple syrup with other light coloured liquid sweetener. If you like to use raw honey, stir it in at the end.
If you're using agar powder, 1tbsp of agar flakes equals to 1tsp of agar powder.
Die Tarte muss ich unbedingt nach backen die sieht so köstlich aus!
Viele Grüße,
Jesse-Gabriel
Thank you so much! Hope you like it :)
may this beautiful recipe bring calm and respite to all … it is really really nice!
Gomasia
Thank you for this beautiful message, dear Gomasia. May it does its magick :)
Dear Hana, what can I use instead of oats? Thanks.
Hi Shamani, you can just increase the ground almonds if you like. I mainly added it because the mix felt little oily but you should be able to make the crust without them too.
Hi! For the lemon curd filling, can arrowroot powder be used instead of cornflour?
Hi Hazel, I personally prefer the cornflour, it’s much tastier. But I did use arrowroot before to make lemon curd which also worked. I just find the cornflour does much better job in here.
Hmm, I just made this and am waiting, or should I saying crossing my fingers, for this to set! I made the lemon curd filling, followed the directions exactly(I think) but the mixture is quite watery…I wish there was more description on what the consistency should be throughout the steps, or even some progress photos. Maybe I didn’t boil it long enough? Anyway, it smells great and seems tasty, hopefully it sets for me!
Hi Lauren, the lemon curd filling should have custard texture once boiled and by adding the coconut oil it will set once refrigerated. Hope the recipe worked well for you and you enjoyed the tart :)
Delightful cake! Only one I could find that was straightforward and had “normal” ingredients! (Used the lemon curd option).
Although slightly too sour… not sure if my lemons were particularly large, or if because I used agave a bit of the sweetness was lost? I’m a sour LOVER, so I feel like when I say it was *too* sour, it’s not just a matter of taste. Perhaps will try again with maple syrup (I feel it might be a “stronger” sweetener, even with the same amount?) or with more agave. (I actually already added a touch more as the mix seemed very sour but didn’t want to overshoot).
Additionally, I tried to “infuse” the filling with a sprig of rosemary, but it didn’t come through whatsoever. What could be a better way to get that lovely rosemary flavor into the tart filling itself?
Thanks so much for sharing this recipe!
You’re so welcome Alice! So happy to hear you enjoyed it! I don’t add much sweetener into my recipes so always feel free to add more. If you’d like the rosemary to come through more then I think infusing it in almond milk overnight in the fridge would do the job. Thank you for your lovely comment :)
This was an easy to follow recipe, with simple ingredients, so I was happy about that. However, made exactly like written, it is too sour for my taste, and uses way too much agar. Mine came out like solid plastic almost. I used agar powder, I’m not sure if there is a difference between flakes and powder, but if there is, that information would have been helpful. I will probably make this recipe again, but using more sugar, and much less agar. The crust is really good.