Chili Lime Tarts
These smooth lime custard pastries are that perfect balance of sweet and tart, cool with just a touch of heat. In the same family as a key lime pie, the sweet shortcrust gives them just a bit more elegance than a traditional graham cracker crust, and that hint of chili creates a more complex flavor.
That being said, they’d be the most amazing finale on taco night. . . once you’ve finished that spicy margarita of course. As written, the amount of chili gives warmth and flavor but is not what I’d call spicy. If you want real heat, try doubling the spice.
Chili Lime Tart Recipe:
Yield:
4 small tart pans, around 4 inches wide each
(To make a single 9-inch tart, simply double just the filling and add 5-10 minutes to the baking time.)
Special equipment:
Nonstick metal tart pans, ideally with removable bottoms
Rolling pin
Difficulty:
Moderate (Easy if you have experience with tart dough)
Ingredients:
Chili Sweet Tart Dough
200 grams all purpose flour
84 grams granulated sugar or caster sugar
½ tsp chili powder
9 TBSP unsalted butter, cubed, very cold
1 large egg, cold, lightly beaten
Chili Lime Custard Filling
1 TBSP lime zest (from regular limes or key limes)
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
85 grams fresh lime juice (juice from fresh limes or key limes work, just not bottled or sweetened)
200 ml sweetened condensed milk (about ½ of a standard 14-ounce can), room temperature
¼ tsp chili powder
Instructions:
To make the shortcrust, whisk together flour, sugar, and chili powder until well combined and no lumps in the flour. Add the beaten egg and butter. Combine by pulsing a few times in a processor (or by hand using a pastry cutter or two knives) until the mixture is the texture of course meal. Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and gently knead the mixture with your hands until you have a cohesive dough. Form dough into a ball.
Tip: If the dough is too dry and won’t come together, lightly dampen your hands with cold water and try again. The added moisture should help form the dough.
Sprinkle the dough lightly with flour and roll out to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out 4, 6-inch rounds (they don’t need to be perfect) and line each tart pan with the dough. Freeze lined tart pans for at least 30 minutes.
Tip: You’ll have a little dough left over. Make some cookies with it...delicious!
Lined tart pans. See those little flecks of chili in the dough? Yum!
Use leftover shortcrust dough for excellent shortbread cookies. Or you could use it for a couple of Strawberry Tarts (see next post!)
Preheat oven to 350°F.
To make the filling, combine all ingredients, and whisk together by hand or with a mixer using the whisk attachment until thickened. 2-3 minutes.
Remove the chilled tart shells from the freezer, place on a baking sheet for easier transport in and out of the oven. Pour the mixture into the shells filling almost to the top.
Bake at 350° F for 18-22 minutes until the crust is light golden brown and the custard has set around the edges but is still wobbly in the middle.
Cool to room temperature on a cooling rack, then remove from tart pans and refrigerate for a few hours until chilled. Serve as is or with a dollop of whipped cream.
To store:
Store any leftovers for up to three days in the refrigerator.
