Coconut-Lime Tartlets

(pictures coming soon)

Admittedly, I've been on a lime kick lately. I don't know what it is about summer that makes me want to gorge myself on citrus fruits, but since lime is generally one of the more versatile of the citrus flavors I've been playing with it a lot in my baking. I made these tartlets for a reunion of many of my high school girlfriends. They've been exposed to lots of my baking (it was routine for me to bring baked goods into my senior year English class at least once a week) and they proclaimed it to be up to snuff with the best of the best that I've made! I, however, was a little less impressed than they were... see the notes section for what I would change next time.

Coconut-Lime Tartlets

Adapted from Gourmet

Ingredients:

For crust:

• 3/4 c. plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 6 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
• 1/3 c. sweetened flaked coconut, toasted and cooled
• 1/4 c. powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt

For custard:

• 4 eggs
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. plus 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice (about 5 limes)
• 1 tbsp. freshly grated lime zest (about 2 limes)
• 1/3 c. sweetened flaked coconut, toasted and cooled

To Make:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line about 24 mini muffin cups with mini muffin liners.
2. Make crust by combining all crust ingredients with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Pack about 1/2 tbsp. of mixture into each mini muffin liner. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden.
3. Make custard by whisking together eggs and sugar in a bowl until combined, then stirring in flour, lime juice, and zest. Pour about 1 tbsp. of custard mixture on top of each crust. Reduce oven to 300 degrees F. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until custard is nearly set.
4. Remove mini muffin pans and top each custard with toasted coconut. Bake 5 more minutes. Chill at least one hour before serving.

Some Notes:

• The flavor of the fresh lime juice really shines in this dish. While that is wonderful, I felt that the flavor of the coconut was lost amidst the lime. In the future I would substitute the 2 extra tbsp. of lime juice in the custard for 2 tbsp. coconut milk.