Lime Tart

I found myself with an excess of limes from the Foodarama sale, so I decided to come up with a dessert to snack on for the week. One of my most favorite desserts is lemon mousse, made by making a lemon curd and folding it into whipped cream. I decided to make a lime curd and do the same, except to put it in a graham cracker tart crust a la Key Lime Pie. Key Lime Pie has been a favorite since childhood. I remember going to the restaurant at the top of the Hyatt in Baltimore whenever I made straight A's on my report card. I always got crabcakes and Key Lime Pie. C thought this was "too limey," ut I thought it was perfectly limey. If you aren't a fan of tart desserts, reduce the lime juice to 1/2 cup.

Lime Tart

½ cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup lime juice
Pinch salt
5 egg yolks

¾ cup cream

1 ¼ cup graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup butter, melted
¼ cup sugar

Melt the butter over medium heat in a small sauce pan. Whisk in the sugar, lime juice, salt and eggs. Cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly for 10-15 minutes, until the curd has thickened and coats the back of a spoon. Cool for 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 350. In a mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar. Press the graham cracker mixture into the tart pan. Bake for 8 minutes, cool.

Whip the cream until soft peaks form, fold the cream into the lime curd. Spoon the lime mixture into the cooled crust. Top with lime slices and refrigerate until ready to eat.

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Caramel Apple Tart

Instead of a traditional apple pie this year, I decided to try out this tart for Thanksgiving. It was amazing! I had to make the caramel sauce twice, the first one was gritty. I had overcooked it. After some googling, I decided to add some corn syrup to ensure that it would be smooth. It worked well. The caramel was perfect for drizzling, I will make it again for sure. I love caramel apples and this was a lovely alternative. That being said, I did dip a slice or two into the caramel sauce for snacking.

Caramel Apple Tart

Crust
2 ½ cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1//2 inch cubes
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

Caramel sauce
¾ cup dark brown sugar
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon corn syrup

Filling
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon unbleached all purpose flour
5 large Granny Smith apples (about 2 to 2 ½ pounds), peeled, cored, cut into sixteenths

For the crust:
Pulse flour, sugar and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With the machine running, add ice water in a slow steady stream until mixture just begins to hold together. Shape dough into a disk, wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour or up to 3 days, before using

For caramel sauce:
Bring sugar, cream, butter and corn syrup to boil in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking constantly until sugar dissolves. Boil until caramel thickens enough to coat spoon thickly, whisking often, about 8 minutes. Caramel sauce can be made 5 days ahead. Cover; chill. Whisk over low heat until warm before using.

For filling:
Whisk flour and sugar in large bowl to blend. Add apples and toss until evenly coated. Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Cut overhang even with top of pan sides. Arrange apple slices in circle around outer edge of pan, fitting snugly. Cut remaining apple quarters lengthwise in half; stand in center of tart, fitting snugly.

Bake tart until apples are tender, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove tart from oven; brush with some of caramel sauce. Cool tart to room temperature. Rewarm remaining caramel sauce. Drizzle tart lightly with sauce. Serve, passing remaining sauce separately.

Adapted from Martha Stewart (crust) and Bon Appetit

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Rustic Strawberry Tart

I had extra pie dough crust from making the Lemon Meringue Pie, so I went ahead and tried my hand at a rustic tart. I had never made one before, so I sort of had to improvise. I ended up taking it as a hostess gift, I sure hope it ends up tasting alright!










Rustic Strawberry Tart

pastry dough (see Pie posts for recipe)
4 cups strawberries, sliced
1/3 cup + 1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons corn startch
1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss sliced strawberries with 1/3 cup sugar, lemon juice and corn startch. Roll out pastry dough into a 9" circle. Lay pastry dough on a baking sheet lined with a Silpat. Mound the strawberry mixture on the center of the dough, leaving a 2" border. Wrap the border around the strawberry mixture. Brush the border with the milk and sprinkle with the teaspoon of sugar. Bake for 45 minutes.

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