Everyone needs a mentor, and Holiday Baking Championship winner Dru Tevis found his at a Rehoboth Beach, DE, restaurant where he bartended after college. “I told the chef I enjoyed baking and she let me make desserts,” he says. Dru went on to become a pastry chef—and earn a spot competing for the Baking Championship title, where he found new mentors in judges Duff Goldman, Carla Hall and Nancy Fuller. After the Hanukkah ugly-sweater challenge, he says, “Nancy told me that she and Carla boxed up my dessert to take home!” He dedicated his semifinals creation—this margarita-inspired Key lime tart—to his husband Chase because they served the drink at their wedding in Mexico. When Dru won the $25,000 grand prize last season, he and Chase knew exactly what to do with it: “We went back to Mexico!”
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 10 min |
| Active: | 40 min |
| Yield: | 8 to 10 servings |
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup pomegranate juice
- 1/2 cup cherry juice
- 3/4 cup Biscoff cookie crumbs
- 3/4 cup vanilla wafer crumbs
- 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- Grated zest and juice of 3 limes
- Grated zest and juice of 1 orange
- 3/4 to 1 cup bottled Key lime juice
- 8 large egg yolks
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk (from two 14-ounce cans)
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon triple sec
- 1 tablespoon tequila
- 1 tablespoon elderflower liqueur (such as St-Germain)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Make the swirl mixture: Bring the pomegranate and cherry juices to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce the heat and simmer until reduced to about 1/2 cup, 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Make the crust: Combine the Biscoff cookie crumbs, vanilla wafer crumbs, shredded coconut, sugar, flour and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the melted butter. Press the mixture into the bottom and about 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan, pie plate or tart pan. Bake until lightly browned, 8 to 12 minutes. Let cool.
- Meanwhile, make the custard: Combine the fresh lime and orange juice in a liquid measuring cup; add enough Key lime juice to equal a total of 1 3/4 cups.
- Whisk together the egg yolks, salt and lime and orange zest in a large bowl until well combined. Whisk in the condensed milk and heavy cream. Whisk in the citrus juices, triple sec, tequila, elderflower liqueur and vanilla.
- Preheat the oven to 345 degrees F. Combine 1/2 cup of the custard with the reduced pomegranate-cherry juice in a small bowl. Pour into a small squeeze bottle. Pour the rest of the custard into the cooled crust. Dot the top of the tart with drops of the squeeze bottle mixture in a spiral pattern, starting from the center. Starting with the center dot, drag a toothpick through the dots, tracing them in the spiral pattern.
- Bake the tart until it’s just set but still slightly jiggly with little to no browning around the edges, 18 to 24 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely before slicing.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 10 servings |
| Calories | 468 |
| Total Fat | 23 g |
| Saturated Fat | 12 g |
| Carbohydrates | 58 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Sugar | 46 g |
| Protein | 8 g |
| Cholesterol | 192 mg |
| Sodium | 450 mg |
Reviews
Perfect! Thank you for sharing such a delightful balance of loveliness, flavors, and textures.
Very tart! I followed the recipe exactly and what I got was a lovely looking tart that just kinda melted away. Very much a custard, which might have done better in a bowl than in a crust.