Tag Archives: tart

Lime Coconut Tart

26 Sep

It is no secret that my love of tarts and pies, both savory and sweet, rides front and center on this website.  Sometimes I change things up a bit and find myself leaning my affections towards galettes, but, for the most part, tarts and pies are sort of like my best food friends (incidentally, my son’s best food friend would be carbs, and my husband’s best food friend would be all the food, everywhere, all of it).  Not coincidentally, what do I make my actual best friend every year for her birthday?  That’s right.  A pie.

So it should come as no surprise that when I discovered three cans of coconut milk sitting in the back of our pantry that seemed to appear as if from nowhere, my first thought was, “I am going to put this in a tart.”  No, really.  Some people might wonder, “When did I buy these?” or “Who needs three cans of coconut milk?”  But not me.  It should also come as no surprise that my second thought after finding the secret stash of coconut milk was, “I must find the best tart dough in all the land.”

For years I have been engaged in a highly serious search for the world’s best sweet tart dough.  I have found what I think is the best galette dough, I have my favorite pie dough, and there is always, of course, my favorite pizza dough, but tart dough?  That’s something else all together.  Tart dough is difficult.  It is prone to slumping and shrinking, and if it does happen to keep its shape, it is also often hard and bland.  Most tart dough, if not soggy, is too crunchy, almost like a cookie.  A cookie is fine, of course, but tart dough it is not.  Tart dough should be sturdy, but not heavy or tough.  It should also be buttery and only slightly sweet, sort of like a shortbread, only not as crumbly and sandy.  My list of qualifications, as you can see, is long and specific, hence my dedicated search.  Or my former search, because now?  Now I have found what is the best, most fail-proof tart dough around.

The end to my searching was not, as it turns out, all that dramatic.  In what might be called the least shocking news in recent memory, the tart dough I ended up using (and finding perfect in every way imaginable) was found in that bible of all things baking, Tartine’s cookbook.  Of course it was.  I’ve eaten their tarts many, many times, and I am well aware of the utterly transcendent quality of all their pastries.  Why it took me so long to get around to making my own batch of their tart dough—look, it doesn’t matter.  I have no excuse.  And you should not either.  You should go make this tart dough right now, and then fill the tart dough with this fantastically tart, creamy filling of coconut milk, lime juice, and lime zest.  Lightly scented with the sweet taste of coconut, wonderfully brisk from the burst of fresh lime, it’s a nearly perfect tart that also happens to be, as it goes, perfectly tart.

Lime Coconut Tart

Tartine’s Sweet Tart Dough

From Tartine

Makes enough dough for 4 9-inch tart shells

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, at room temperature

3 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, sugar, and salt, and mix on medium speed until smooth.  Mix in 1 egg until smooth, then mix in the second egg until smooth again.  With the mixer off, scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl, then add in the flour all at once and mix on low speed until well incorporated.

On a lightly floured work surface, turn out dough and divide into 4 equal balls.  Shape each ball into a disk about ½-inch thick.  Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least two hours, or overnight.  If you are only preparing to use 1 of the tart shells, place 1 disk of dough in the refrigerator, and store the remaining 3 disks of dough in the freezer for up to 3 weeks.

To prepare a tart shell for baking, on a lightly floured surface, roll out a disk of tart dough about 1/8-inch thick.  Work quickly to prevent the dough from becoming warm.  Cut out a circle 2 inches larger than your tart pan.  If the dough is still cool, lift the dough into the tart pan, gently pressing it into the sides and bottom of the pan.  If the dough is sticky and no longer cool, place the dough in the refrigerator for a few minutes to firm up before transferring it to the pan. Trim the top of the dough evenly with the top of the pan, then place the pastry shell in the freezer for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Using a fork or the tip of a knife, poke many small holes in the bottom of the tart shell about 2 inches apart..  Bake the tart in the oven for 7 to 10 minutes for a partially baked shell, 12 to 15 minutes for a fully baked shell.  A partially baked shell should look dry and slightly opaque, and a fully baked shell should look golden brown.

A baked pastry shell will keep, well wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, and in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.

Lime Coconut Filling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

4 large eggs

1 ¼ cups sugar

½ cup coconut milk

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

2 teaspoons lime zest

pinch salt

In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until well incorporated.  While still whisking, slowly add in the coconut milk, then lime juice.  Whisk in the lime zest and pinch of salt.

Pour filling into partially baked tart shell, then bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the filling is set.  The top should be just beginning to brown, and the center of the filling should jiggle ever-so-slightly when the pan is bumped.

Place tart on a rack to cool completely, then, when cool, unmold and serve.  If desired, chill tart in refrigerator for several hours, or overnight, before serving.

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Strawberry Cream Tart in a Gingerbread Crust

1 Apr

Last week it rained for seven days straight.  Now, in this part of the country that type of weather pattern may not be in any way unusual, but that does not erase the fact that it is also unpleasant.  Being as though I have lived here long enough to know that summer comes late to the Pacific Northwest (but also, thankfully, lingers leisurely into the autumn months), I coped with this long stretch of wet and dreary weather in the most reasonable manner possible: I pretended it was summer.

Imagine the days are long and sticky hot.  It’s too hot to turn on the oven during the day, so you wait until the sun sets before you satisfy your desire to bake something.  The heat of the day breaks at around 8PM, but there is a bright glow that lights the sky until well past 9PM.

In the morning, you head into the garden to pick some strawberries.  The berries are warm from the morning sun, and you can smell their sweet juice on your hands as you gather them.

By 10AM it is starting to get warm.  Knowing what the temperature will be like in just a few short hours, you plan ahead and start to assemble a simple cream filling for the tart shell you baked during last night’s reprieve from the heat.  Kept in the refrigerator, the cool cream, topped with fresh strawberries, will prove to be a welcome treat that cuts through the sweltering late afternoon sun.

And that’s how we made it through the week.  Though the berries didn’t come from our garden (we’ve got at least another two and a half months before we see any action in that area), and the days were not anywhere close to being even remotely warm, that didn’t stop us from enjoying this tart any less.  We pretended we were eating it in the backyard as we swayed lazily in a hammock and listened to the soft hum of the sounds of summer.

The good news is that summer will always turn up, even if you have to wait through another soggy and wet season in order to reach it.  The even better news is that you can make this tart now, no matter the season and no matter the weather, and that when it comes to enjoying the tart, there will be absolutely no faking required.

Strawberry Tart in a Gingerbread Crust

Gingerbread Crust

Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Book of Desserts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons ground powdered ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled butter, cut into pieces

1 tablespoon unsulphured molasses

2 tablespoons cold water

In a medium bowl sift together the flour, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, salt, and baking powder.  Cut the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips or a pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly and resembles cornmeal.  Drizzle the molasses and water over the dough, mixing with your fingertips until the crumbs of dough begin to cling together.

Gather the dough together and knead it into a ball.  Press it evenly into the bottom and sides of a 9″ tart pan.  Pierce crust on sides and bottom with fork.  Gently fit a large piece of aluminum foil tightly against the crust.  Fill with pie weights (you can use dried beans or large handful of pennies, but, being someone to bakes a great deal, I like to use these super handy ceramic pie weights) and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges of the crust just begin to darken.  Remove foil and weights from tart pan (it’s best to just gather up the foil by the edges and lift the whole thing out, weights and all), and continue to bake the tart crust for 10-15 minutes more, or until crust is firm and darkly browned.

Set aside tart crust until completely cooled, at least 2 hours.  (I let mine cool, uncovered, overnight.)

Strawberry Cream Filling

8 ounces vanilla yogurt (regular or nonfat)

4 ounces cream cheese

finely grated or chopped zest of 1/2 a lemon

12 ounces strawberries, hulled and sliced

In a bowl with a mixer on high speed, beat together yogurt and cream cheese until smooth.  Add lemon zest and stir to combine.  Pour yogurt and cream cheese filling into cooled tart shell.  Refrigerate until chilled and slightly firmed (it will never reach actual firmness, so don’t aim for a sturdy filling), about 2 hours.

When filling has chilled, arrange strawberries on top in whatever manner you choose.  I layered them in overlapping circles, but I promise you that the arrangement of your strawberries will in no way compromise the taste of your dessert.

Optional

If your strawberries are off season, as these were, and not at peak sweetness, you can apply a very light glaze on top of the berries to coax out a bit more strawberry flavor.  Simply toss a couple of large strawberries into a small food processor or blender, along with two tablespoons of water, 1/4 teaspoon of sugar, and a pinch of cornstarch. Blend together until smooth, then pour into a small saucepan set over low heat.  Stir over low heat until strawberry mixture has thickened slightly and just begins to simmer.  Let mixture cool slightly, then lightly brush over arranged strawberries until just covered.

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