Lime Tart & The Humble Kitchen

Humble Kitchen Mascots
Le Monde newsprint paper-mâché
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Over the last few months I've been asked to post photos of my kitchen or do a 'tour'.

So today, while doing my morning baking, I stepped back from the counters and snapped a few photos.

Well, after thoroughly cleaning the ridiculous number of stainless surfaces. It is now quickly reverting back to its natural, fingerprint smudged state.


The kitchen lacks a lot of knickknacks--apart from the chickens--so it is a little low on the personality-scale. While polishing today and taking in the general look of the kitchen, I felt the impulse pull out all the pretty jars of legumes I keep in my pantry and arranging them artfully on the counters.

Then maybe some containers of spices, a couple cake stands, or cutting board with some colorful bell peppers...

I nipped that craziness in the bud. Staging a kitchen seems silly, even to me.

Instead, I just got about my morning. A simple crumb cake for the family and a tart for today's blog post.

At least I have a crumb cake in process. Perhaps not as pretty as some bell peppers but a whole lot more realistic.



Also, these blow up pretty large. Try not to examine the baseboards too carefully. I do have a toddler...

So today's tart!




Okay, so I messed this dessert up a bit. Not the making of the dessert itself, but I did help myself to a slice before it had enough time to fully chill.

I was not exactly rewarded for my impatience with good photographs. I have the rest of the tart chilling now, if the light holds out perhaps I can update the post with a few properly chilled slices.

Regardless of the less than flattering photo, the tart is lovely. It reminds me of a sour cream lemon pie, only with lime and less acidity due to the use of cream. It also sits on a brown butter crust which lends the tart a very nice nutty fragrance.

So, it smelled good, it looked good, and I knew it tasted good...

I wanted a piece. Immediately.

A recipe for photography-disaster.





Lime Tart With Brown Butter Crust
from Luscious Creamy Desserts

Lime Curd
1/2 cup unsalted butter
5 large egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (roughly 2-3 medium limes)
zest of one lime, finely grated
pinch salt

3/4 cup heavy cream

Brown Butter Crust
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Lime Topping
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lime zest

Lots of left over egg whites. I think we might be in for some macarons soon...

Start with the curd, as it will need time to chill after cooking.

Melt the butter over medium low heat in a medium sauce pan. Remove from heat and whisk in the sugar, lime juice, zest, salt and eggs. Return to the heat and cook, stirring frequently for 10-15 minutes, until the curd has thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Do not allow the curd to boil, if it begins to steam pull it off the heat and stir to cool it down.

Place a fine sieve over a bowl and strain the curd. Cover the curd and place in the refrigerator to cool completely (at least 2 hours).




For the brown butter crust, pre-heat your oven to 350°F and ready a 9" tart pan. (I'm using a rectangular tart simply because my round tart is holding yet another tart at the moment.)

Place the butter into a skillet and melt over medium/medium-low heat. Allow it to cook without stirring until the butter is golden brown and has a warm, nutty fragrance.

Meanwhile, combine the salt, sugar and flour in a small mixing bowl. When the butter is ready, pour it into the bowl in a steady stream while stirring with a fork. Mix well and then pour the crumbs into your tart pan.

Press the crumbs into the pan to form the crust. Stab the crust liberally with a fork and bake for 20 minutes until light golden brown.

Pull out of the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack completely.




When both the crust and the curd are cool you can fill the tart.

Beat the 3/4 cup of heavy cream to stiff peaks and then add the lime curd. Beat in the curd until just incorporated and then pour into your crust. Smooth with an offset spatula.

Lightly cover the tart and chill for 4 hours.

Or, if you're me and you've been running your finger inside of the bowl and eating the extra filling, you want a slice now so you rush ahead...




Make the topping by blending the sugar and lime zest into a fine powder in your food processor or blender.

Just before serving, sprinkle the tart with the lime sugar.

Enjoy!

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