Key Lime Brûlée Tart

with Greek yogurt and real key limes

Hi there!

You look great btw. A little time away does me good. Forgive me if I haven’t been posting frequently. Basically, I’ve been busy. Complexly, I’ve been lazy. But the kind of laziness where you feel you’re doing so much but it’s all fragmented so therefore you’re accomplishing nothing and achieving a net zero outcome. At least in my head. So I wanted to refresh with a quick recipe for something that you may or may not like. Key Lime Pie.

I never liked Key Lime Pie up until about age 20. I was heavily influenced by members of my family who also didn’t like it. But if Publix has done anything right outside of Pub Subs, It’s Key Lime pie. So that’s where I learned to love it. But let’s face it, most store-bought Key lime pie can be sickeningly sweet. And here’s the other thing, I don’t like a graham cracker crust. It’s often too sweet to eat or too crumbly to work with so I avoid it. I opted for a shortcrust style Pâte Brisée for this recipe. And I wanted the tart to be semi-portable so I made the recipe for small tart tins but you can use a larger tart tin as well. The brulée aspect was more of a “I don’t like whipped cream so what else can I top this with?” motivation. But it completes the taste profile and adds a little more crispy texture. You’re more than welcome to not do this part. Or maybe just go buy a blow torch. It’s romantic and life is short.

Special Equipment

Six 4-inch removable tart tins -or- One 9-inch removable tart pan

Small blow torch ($15 at hardware store)

Food processor

Filling

14oz can sweetened condensed milk

½ cup Greek yogurt (nonfat or whole, doesn’t matter)

2 tbsp key lime juice (you can use regular limes, yeah)

1 tbsp key lime zest

Pâte Brisée

150g cold unsalted butter, cubed

185g AP flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cardamon

1 tsp salt, dissolved in 45g ice water

Brûlée

Cane sugar

Blow torch

Whisk filling ingredients in a bowl and set aside. That part is done!

Pate brisée is a shortcrust pastry that, unlike pie dough or puff pastry, is less about creating layers and more about achieving a buttery, crumbly texture. Plus it’s easier to take scraps and re-roll without losing texture like you otherwise would in a pie dough.

Add flour, cinnamon, cardamon, and salt in bowl of a food processor and blitz to combine. Add cubed butter and blitz until the texture of course cornmeal. Turn on and add water through the feed tube in one motion. Allow to run for 5 seconds.

Dump contents on a work surface and lightly knead until it just comes together. You want it to be able to hold its shape when pressed together. It’s okay if there are some dry spots. It will continue to hydrate while resting. Form into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Let chill in fridge for at least two hours, up to 24.

Remove from fridge, unwrap, and place on a lightly floured surface. With a rolling pin, begin to bang, press, and roll the disk out, giving it a quarter turn after each few repetitions to keep it circular and even. Roll to 1/4 inch. If making 1 large tart, use your rolling pin to roll up the rough and unroll in onto the tart tin. For 6 small tart tins, cut out circles in the dough, an inch larger than the diameter of your tart tins. You can re-roll the scraps. Drape it over the tin and allow in to fall naturally. Lift the overhand and press the dough into the corners, making sure it is flush with the bottom and edges. You can patch any rips or tears with extra dough that’s hanging off the edge.

You can remove the overhanging dough at this point and trim it off for a cleaner crust. But the pastry will shrink slightly in the oven so I like to have a little overhang. Can also be a little snack for you, the chef. Prick the bottom lightly with a fork and place in the fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Use some tin foil or crumbled parchment paper filled with your choice of pie weights (I used sugar) for the blind baking. Place the pie weights in the pastry and and bake for 15 minutes, removing the pie weights and baking for an additional 5 minutes until barely golden brown.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Reduce over temperature to 350. Once cooled, add your filling to the crusts. The filling will not rise in the oven, so be sure to fill it completely to the top of the crust. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly in the tin before removing and letting cool completely on a wire rack. Once cooled, cover and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Up to 48.

For optional brulée. Once chilled, sprinkle a thin layer of cane sugar on the surface and brulée with your blow torch, only allowing the tip of the flame to touch the sugar, moving constantly. Once sugar is melted, let cool slightly then add a second layer of sugar and repeat. This second layer of sugar allows for maximum crunch.

Serve and enjoy!

You’re the best.