| Level: | Intermediate |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup, plus 3 tablespoons sugar
- Kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
- 2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening, (recommended: Crisco)
- 1/4 cup ice water
- 4 extra-large egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
- Lime Filling, recipe follows
- 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 4 extra-large eggs
- 1/4 cup finely grated lime zest (6 to 8 limes)
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Combine the flour, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Put the flour mixture in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the butter and Crisco and pulse about 10 times until the butter is in small bits. Add the ice water and process until the dough comes together. Dump on a well-floured board and form into a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Roll out the dough and fit into a 9-inch tart pan with removable sides. Don’t stretch the dough when placing it in the pan or it will shrink during baking. Cut off the excess by rolling the pin across the top of the pan. Line the tart shell with a piece of buttered aluminum foil, butter side down, and fill it with dried beans or rice. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the beans and foil and prick the bottom of the shell all over with a fork to allow the steam to escape. Bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
- Raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees F.
- For the meringue, whip the egg whites, cream of tartar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on high speed until frothy. With the mixer still running, slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and beat until the meringue is thick and shiny, about 2 minutes.
- Immediately spread the lime filling in the cooled tart shell and pipe the meringue over it with a large star tip. Be sure the meringue covers the entire top and touches the edges of the shell, to prevent it from shrinking. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes, until the meringue is lightly browned. Cool to room temperature.
- Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 1 minute. On low speed, add the eggs, one at a time, and then add the lime zest, lime juice, and salt. Don’t worry; it will look curdled.
- Pour the mixture into a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat for 6 to 8 minutes, until thick, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Whisk briskly when it starts to thicken and cook over low heat for a minute or two, whisking constantly. Don’t allow it to boil! It will be 175 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. Pour into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and chill.
- Yield: 3 cups
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 481 |
| Total Fat | 26 g |
| Saturated Fat | 14 g |
| Carbohydrates | 55 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 39 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Cholesterol | 158 mg |
| Sodium | 370 mg |
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 481 |
| Total Fat | 26 g |
| Saturated Fat | 14 g |
| Carbohydrates | 55 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 39 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Cholesterol | 158 mg |
| Sodium | 370 mg |
Reviews
Delicious!
I love this recipe, but the curd definitely is too soupy–no matter how long you cook it or chill it–so I add an extra yolk to bind it. The pastry crust is difficult to manage, as it does shrink in the oven if you don’t weigh it down properly with baking beans, or try to use this recipe for a pie shell. So, I use a different recipe for crust, and I make it a pie crust rather than for a tart pan. A few simple alterations, and I have a great lime meringue pie!
Going to make this lemon tart. Btw, has ANYONE bothered to COMPARE the Lime Meringue with the Lemon Meringue Recipe By Ina on Food Network Website ?????? I just did.
The two Recipes ARE Identical EXCEPT for how the FILLING is Prepared…. Go ahead Compare and Read the Two Side by Side and Hopefully You Will Notice the Flaw in the Lemon tart recipe once compared to the Lime tart recipe.
Okay now that you have noticed the Stark Difference I hope you can see how the Lemon Curd Filling WOULD in fact come out TOO Runny, while the Lime most likely would not.
The two Recipes ARE Identical EXCEPT for how the FILLING is Prepared…. Go ahead Compare and Read the Two Side by Side and Hopefully You Will Notice the Flaw in the Lemon tart recipe once compared to the Lime tart recipe.
Okay now that you have noticed the Stark Difference I hope you can see how the Lemon Curd Filling WOULD in fact come out TOO Runny, while the Lime most likely would not.
Lemon Filling states: 4 extra large eggs AND 3 extra large egg yolks.
Lime Filling states: (JUST) 4 extra large eggs
Meanwhile the Lemon recipe gets Average of 5 stars and the Lime recipe gets a lowball of 3 stars. People the recipe is identical, one is made with lemons the other is made with limes.
So that being said, each recipe was Rewritten Poorly on this website.
I will being making the Lemon recipe…. USING ALL the Lime recipe DIRECTIONS.
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lemon-meringue-tart-recipe.html?oc=linkback
I found this to be delicious. It was just like making key lime pie, only with pastry crest and regular limes. I believe that the person before did not cook the curd long enough that’s why soupy. I hope that you would try making again.
Very disappointing. The crust was horrible — impossible to handle. The lime pudding was more like lime soup, even after I tried to firm it up by putting the tart in the fridge. The meringue was OK, but, hey, how hard is that?