Mini Lemon Tarts come together easily with a simple cheesecake layer in a filo shell topped with lemon custard. Garnish however you like.
Lemony desserts are perfect for any occasion or season. These Mini Lemon Tarts are pretty, delicious, easy to make, and satisfy the sweet tooth in all of us beautifully!
Small Bite Sweets are a favorite
Y’all! We love our sweets just like most folks. But, we all know we should limit our indulgences. When you’re entertaining we want to help you with ideas to offer something sweet to your guests without overwhelming them. There’s nothing worse than serving a delicious meal and then topping it off with a rich, sweet dessert that your friends feel obligated to eat. You’ve gone to a lot of trouble to create that delicious dessert. Why not save those for times when there was a light meal, or even an afternoon coffee and dessert gathering when a big dessert is more welcome.
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Whether it’s your own dinner party or you’ve been asked to bring a sweet to a potluck-type meal you’ll be thanked for making something mouthwatering, yet sensible. Besides these Mini Lemon Tarts we have Mini Cheesecakes with Chocolate Chips and it’s always fun to make both and give everyone a choice – maybe even one of each. For individual portion-sized desserts check out our Brownie Trifles.
Mini Desserts are so easy
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Both these Mini Lemon Tarts and our Mini Cheesecakes with Chocolate Chips start with prepared filo shells. These little jewels are just great for sweet and savory bites. Find them in the freezer section of your grocery, or you can order here. Just fill them however you like. There is no baking required. Just fill, chill, serve and enjoy!
Both mini desserts also have a simple cheesecake filling that comes together with just a few ingredients. Do yourself and your guests a favor, though. Don’t use that frozen whipped topping. Yes, it’s pretty, but that’s where the positive features end, in our opinion. It literally takes just a couple of minutes to whip your own cream and you’ll have pure, simple goodness to go into your mini lemon tarts. Mmmmm……..
Mini Lemon Tarts
Ingredients
- 45 mini fillo shells
- 1-1/4 cup sugar divided
- 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 4 oz. cream cheese softened
- 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
- 4 lemons juiced, approximately 8 Tbsp.
- 2 eggs + 2 egg yolks
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into cubes
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Beat 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla, and cream cheese with a mixer at medium speed until well mixed.
- Beat whipping cream in a separate bowl at high speed until peaks form.
- Gently fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture.
- Pipe mixture into fillo shells. Refrigerate during next steps.
- In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup sugar, eggs, egg yolks, salt, and lemon juice over medium-high heat.
- Whisk constantly until thick (about 3 minutes).
- Remove from heat and add butter 1 cube at a time until melted. Cool.
- Pour over cheesecake layer in shells. Refrigerate 1-2 hours and garnish as desired.
Ideas for Garnish:
We garnished ours with blueberries and mint leaves, but you can let your imagination go wild and have the garnish match your color scheme, the theme of your meal, or just make your mini’s look however you like. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- besides blueberries, any berry would be great – blackberries, a slice of strawberry, or a raspberry
- a few graham cracker crumbs or any type of cookie crumbs
- a dollop of whipped cream is always good
- a small wedge of lemon, lime or orange
- a drizzle of syrup – caramel, chocolate, maple
- sprinkles – any color or combination that suits your fancy
A few items you may need for your mini lemon tarts:
This recipe was developed and written by Biscuits and Burlap and first appeared at the House of Wood.
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I am obsessed with these! They are so cute, and pretty and tiny! Pinned! Can’t wait to try them 🙂
Hope you like them Caitlyn.
These are so cute! Plus the lemon and cheesecake combination sounds so tasty 🙂
It really is great. Thanks, Danielle!
These look amazing! Perfect bit sized dessert!!!
Thank you, Tisha!
Such a cute little dessert! Love that it’s made with Phyllo dough, it adds that extra crispy bite.
Exactly! Thanks, Iryna.
These mini lemon tarts are adorable! And I love that you added a cheesecake layer… can not wait to try them!
Thank you, Meredith. We hope you like them as much as we do.
I love these little perfect treats! Lemon tarts are my favorite, and adding a cheesecake layer is so awesome. Pinning to try!
Thank you so much, Colleen!
How much lemon juice do you usually get from 4 lemons and could I use bottled lemon juice instead?
Hi Brandi, I wasn’t sure, so I just googled it myself and the answer was approximately 2 Tablespoons of juice per lemon. You certainly could use bottled juice and the recipe would come out fine. However, we highly recommend using fresh lemon juice. The flavor is so superior that it will really make a difference in everything that you cook with it. Do you have a citrus juice? It makes short work of getting out the juice. (affiliate link). This links to one just like we use.
How would they do if I made them the night before an evening event? Do you think the phylo would get soggy?
Christi, To be assured of crispiness I would make the filling ahead, but not pipe it in the shells until a few hours before your event.
These look so inviting!!! Lemon anything gets my attention! Perfect for a tea party! Thanks for sharing on Weekend Potluck!
Thanks so much, Kathleen.
I think the amount of lemon juice needs to be more specific. I was just looking back at your last reply about getting @ 2 Tbsp per lemons and that is not always the case. I got far more juice than I probably needed which led to them being very tart. The lemon curd overpowered the cream cheese.
Thank you for your comment Marlene. We have gone back in to the recipe and added the note “approximately 8 Tablespoons”. I’m sorry that yours came out too tart and hope you will give it another shot.