Whipped Key Lime Curd Tarts

My son and his girl friend declared these tarts amazing and I have to agree. The recipe comes from my sweet, amazingly talented friend, Tiffany, Food Finery. Tiffany is known as a key lime pie connoisseur and she modeled this recipe after her favorite key lime tarts at Cafe Normandie.

Key lime pie is usually made with sweetened condensed milk and baked. Tiffany’s easy, no-bake recipe starts with making key lime curd on the stove and after chilling, folding in sweetened whipped cream. I took the easy route and bought some mini graham cracker crusts and filled them with the luscious filling.

I did have some trouble with the lime curd. Bits of egg white cooked instead of incorporating into the curd and left the delicious curd looking a bit lumpy, so I decided to just strain the curd. I was left with 1 1/4 cups of gorgeous key lime curd. My husband spotted it while it was chilling in the fridge and was disappointed that I was using it all in the tarts. Next time I’ll have to make a double batch so that he’ll be able to enjoy it on some toast for a quick, delicious treat.

Since I didn’t have 2 cups of curd, I also cut the amount of whipping cream I used for the filling. Even with the reduced amounts, I still had enough to fill 12 mini graham cracker crusts. I topped them with a little whipped cream, lime wedges and some green sprinkles. Adding green sprinkles wasn’t my best idea. They looked pretty at first, but then the sprinkles dissolved into the whipped cream and filling, so they looked more spotted than sprinkled.

Visit Food Finery for the original recipe, as well as all of Tiffany’s delicious recipes. I’m so glad she shared this one.

Whipped Key Lime Curd Tarts
slightly adapted from Food Finery

Ingredients:

For the Lime Curd
1/2 Cup sugar
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
the juice from 10 key limes (about 1/3 cup)
the zest from 4 key limes
6 Tablespoons butter

For the tarts
1 1/4 cups key lime curd
1 1/4 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons sugar

Directions:

Lime Curd: Place the sugar, whole eggs, egg yolks, juice and zest in a medium pan and whisk to combine. Heat and continue to constantly whisk until the mixture turns pale and thickens (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and whisk in the butter.  Cool completely before refrigerating. Store in jars or an airtight container for up to one month.

Pie Filling: Whip the cream until it thickens (about 5 minutes) then add the vanilla and sugar. Fold the lime curd in with a rubber spatula and fill desired shells/crusts. Chill 2 hours then top with additional whipped cream if desired. Allow to come to room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.

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Tagged as: cooking, Dessert, food, recipe