Tangy Lime Tart (Tarte au Citron Vert)

Tahitian Limes were 7 for $2.00AU at the Vic market on Thursday. I couldn't resist buying them with the thought of making this sublime zingy tart. The sweet pastry has a delectable crumbly melt in the mouth sweet pastry. It is enriched with an extra egg yolk. The recipes I have used are an adaption of the 'Lemon Tart Filling' and 'Sweet Pastry' from Justin North's "French Lessons". As timing and oven temperature used were not given in Justin's book, I have used a similar recipes from Loretta Sartori's 'The Cooks Book - Patisserie' (2004).

Tangy Lime Tart (Tarte au Citron Vert)

Ingredients:
140 gm cold unsalted butter diced
100 grams icing (confectioner's) sugar
pinch of salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
230 grams plain flour
20 grams cornflour
750 ml lime filling (recipe follows)

In an electric mixer, cream the butter and icing sugar until lightly creamed. Add the salt and slowly drizzle in the beaten egg. Continue beating until you have a smooth mass. Sift the flour and conrnflour together and add to the bowl. Mix until it just comes together.

Place the dough on to a lightly floured work surface. Using your hands, shape it into a smooth flattened ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for half an hour before using. This stops the pastry from shrinking. Knead the dough lightly to soften a little. Flour your work surface and roll out to fit the tart tin. Chill once again.

Blind bake the prepared empty tart case to prevent it from becoming soggy and to stop it from rising while baking.  To do this, line the base and sides of the uncooked pastry case with non-stick baking paper, then foil, pressing the foil flush with the base of the pastry case and up the sides. Fill with baking weights or dry beans. Place on a baking tray and cook in a preheated oven 170°C (340°F)  for 20 minutes. Remove the pastry case from the oven and remove the baking weights or beans. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes or until light golden. Let it cool. Keep an eye on the baking so as not to over do the edges. Note: While baking with the filling, I place aluminum foil underneath the tart tin and bring it up the edges and fold and crimp it in over the sides of the tart shell to prevent it from browning too much.

Heat the oven to 160°C. Gently pour the lime filling into the prepared tart case. Carefully transfer to the oven. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes. The filling should still wobble gently. Let it cool.

Lime Filling
This recipe makes 750 ml which is enough to fill a 22 cm x 2 cm tart tin.

5 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
130 grams castor (superfine) sugar
200 ml cream
130 ml lime juice, strained (juice from 4 limes)
1 teaspoon lemon zest

In a large mixing bowl, combine the eggs, extra yolk and sugar and gently whisk until well combined. Stir in the cream, lime juice and lemon zest. You can use lime zest if you prefer, but I personally find it a little bitter. Cover and leave to infuse overnight in the refrigerator. It can be prepared up to 2 days before hand if required.

Overall
The tart tasted sublime. However, the pastry case shrunk more than I would have liked. Next time I will stick to 123 Sweet Pastry dough recipe I usually use (it is always successful, is crumbly with a melt in the mouth feel). I had too many bubbles. Probably because I gave it a good whisk before filling the tart. I baked this tart for only 40 minutes on conventional and it was slightly overdone and not wobbly.