My son and his girl friend declared these tarts amazing and I have to agree. The recipe comes from my sweet, amazingly talented friend, Tiffany, Food Finery. Tiffany is known as a key lime pie connoisseur and she modeled this recipe after her favorite key lime tarts at Cafe Normandie.
Key lime pie is usually made with sweetened condensed milk and baked. Tiffany’s easy, no-bake recipe starts with making key lime curd on the stove and after chilling, folding in sweetened whipped cream. I took the easy route and bought some mini graham cracker crusts and filled them with the luscious filling.
I did have some trouble with the lime curd. Bits of egg white cooked instead of incorporating into the curd and left the delicious curd looking a bit lumpy, so I decided to just strain the curd. I was left with 1 1/4 cups of gorgeous key lime curd. My husband spotted it while it was chilling in the fridge and was disappointed that I was using it all in the tarts. Next time I’ll have to make a double batch so that he’ll be able to enjoy it on some toast for a quick, delicious treat.
Since I didn’t have 2 cups of curd, I also cut the amount of whipping cream I used for the filling. Even with the reduced amounts, I still had enough to fill 12 mini graham cracker crusts. I topped them with a little whipped cream, lime wedges and some green sprinkles. Adding green sprinkles wasn’t my best idea. They looked pretty at first, but then the sprinkles dissolved into the whipped cream and filling, so they looked more spotted than sprinkled.
Visit Food Finery for the original recipe, as well as all of Tiffany’s delicious recipes. I’m so glad she shared this one.
Ingredients
- For the Lime Curd:
- 1/2 Cup sugar
- 2 whole eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- the juice from 10 key limes (about 1/3 cup)
- the zest from 4 key limes
- 6 Tablespoons butter
- 1 1/4 cups key lime curd
- 1 1/4 cups whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
Directions
- Place the sugar, whole eggs, egg yolks, juice and zest in a medium pan and whisk to combine. Heat and continue to constantly whisk until the mixture turns pale and thickens (about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and whisk in the butter. Cool completely before refrigerating. Store in jars or an airtight container for up to one month.
- Whip the cream until it thickens (about 5 minutes) then add the vanilla and sugar. Fold the lime curd in with a rubber spatula and fill desired shells/crusts. Chill 2 hours then top with additional whipped cream if desired. Allow to come to room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
slightly adapted from Food Finery
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I love to bake, especially cookies, cakes, and pies. I’ll post my adventures in the kitchen, my favorite new recipes, as well as our family favorites.
Mini pies are adorable, and these look especially delicious.
OMG, I’m a big fan of curd, limes and tarts! That is a haevenly dessert. So pretty too.
Cheers,
Rosa
Oh..how delicate and cute those tarts look! Your experiments make me scary to try out my lime curd..but it surely is tempting.
Sono deliziose e sicuramente buone, bravissima come sempre!!!
Your tarts are darling!!! I’ve never made any kind of curd before but I’m itching to do so. I’d definitely have to make a double batch so I could make tarts with them and keep some curd for spreading on my breakfast bread.
I love key lime, lime, lemon everything citrus and these key lime curd tarts look great. I too have had misfortunes with curd but straining has always helped with getting better results!
Quite a delicacy, Barbara. Perfect summer dessert!
You say key lime and I start salivating…I just love that combination of puckery tart combined with sweet. They are nothing less than adorable Barbara!
Love this idea! I will make very soon. Maybe some fresh lime zest sprinkled on top would be better than the sprinkles.
These are some gorgeous little pies. This is a must try.
These look so adorable and I bet they are simply delicious!
My all-time favorite dessert. They look lovely. I hope you saved one for me. I’ll be right over.
These look perfect!
Oooooo, this is something I can really sink my teeth into!!!
Yum! I think I might just make the lime curd it sounds delicious. I’m making a coconut bread tomorrow and lime curd would perfect the toasted slices.
Thanks for this sweet post Barbara! I am thrilled you enjoyed them
they are such tasty treats!!! Love you!
Love the idea of the whipped curd! Yum and love minis.
These sound amazing. A great tweak on a classic! They’re adorable too!
What a yummy looking tart!
Thanks for that link Barbara. I love key lime anything and these look fantastic.
Mini pies are adorable! Love it! Yum!
oo yum! I am impressed with your determination to juice all the limes. When thinking of juices all the limes, I don’t blame you for keeping it simple on the crusts!
Very practical preparation but yet the result is wonderful! Key lime tart is a great choice for baking in Thailand since lemons are very rare in the market…
Thanks for sharing
wow..gorgeous and cute lil tarts…:)
These sound refreshing and delicious. I almost made Meyer Lemon curd tart today but got busy and haven’t make it yet. Guess I’ll try these key lime ones first!
Thanks for sharing.
Amy
http://utry.it
lime is so lovely in this season, so refreshing…even if it is served with whipped cream!
I just love sweets and i always admire your recipes,thank you Barbara once again for your this sweet,tempting and delicious “Whipped Key lime curd tarts” recipe.i am gonna make it right now in my kitchen.Today one sweet tooth got his another target to hit,and this is going to be happened just with the help of you Barbara.Thank you once again.
i think your son and his girlfriend sound like smart kids with great taste! These look so refreshing!
Tangy, sweet, creamy….wow…those tarts sound fabulous!
Absolutely gorgeous and sweet and tarty and I love it! you are making me crave it though right now and i already have a dessert in the fridge! love your method. My grandmother taught me hers a long time ago and i need to switch it up here and again. Trying your next time. Your pics are perfect!
As a former Floridian, Key Lime is one of my all time favorites.
I make mine with condensed milk. This looks like it would be fresher tasting and less “canned” tasting!
I’ll give it a whirl! Thanks for the link…
xxoo,
RMW
Just gorgeous! I love no bake recipes for the summer, and I’ve never made lime curd before. It sounds delicious.
I love these little tarts look amazing! gloria
I LOVE your photo with all the tarts~so pretty! The curd sounds like a lime curd mousse:) YUM!
We love lime desserts! Looks wonderful!
These look so good
Personally, I think the dissolved sprinkles looks pretty good and add the perfect final touch 
I could sure use one now =) The individual tarts are lovely.
These are tempting and yummy! Great idea to use graham cracker crust instead of making your own……
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that these are amazing! Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eaters
I saw this on Tiffany’s site and I have it bookmarked. I guess I’m supposed to make this soon! Bet these didn’t last long at your house, Barbara!
baked french toast and key lime tarts..I must visit more! great treats barbara!! love the first pic!
sweetlife
Wow your tarts are just gorgeous. I love key lime pie but the idea of a whipped key lime tart is even better.
I like Key Lime anything! These tarts look SO good!
Thank you for your kind words on my blog. There is a lot of cleanup in Western MA, now.
~Judy
Owwhhh, lovely. I’d imagine it’d make for such a fresh crisp flavour this method too. Love it.
A delicious and easy summer dessert, Barbara. And you don’t even need to turn an oven on. Nice. I always have key limes in my fridge.
What a unique recipe, it looks delicious. Very elegant!
What I love about mini pies is the fact I can eat one all by myself.. Yes!!
I love Key lime pie so this must taste outrageously amazing, thanks for sharing!
This was such an easy and tasty desert! I liked the curd so much I decided to make some straight-up for a gift. I put what would fit into a small jar and the remaining amount into a tupperware and into the refrigerator for myself. Later that night I went to eat a little of mine and it had not all set up. I looked at the jar and it had a line of separation, as well, but when I tilted it to see if it was liquidy it did not move. Should I have let the curd cool before storing it and should I not be storing it initially in refrigerator?
Hi Carrie! So glad you loved the tarts. This has never happened to me, so I asked Tiffany if it’s happened to her. Here’s her reply: It’s never happened to me but I know what she is saying. It should cool in the pan to thicken and then cool completely before refrigerating.
Hope that helps!
Thank you so much for replying This will be so helpful as I plan on making the curd many more times!
What a unique recipe, it looks delicious…Today one sweet tooth got his another target to hit,and this is going to be happened just with the help of you Barbara.
Hello Barbara, too bad I could not try your recipe – i am raw and eating only fruits and vegetables… but pictures are awesome! I think you find a great exposure to your love of baking – you are posting to blog, baking is still a hobby. I am sure you could start a successful cafe, but it could ruin you love to bake – that happened to me, I really loveded driving before working as a driver.
Maybe you are planning to write a book of recipes?
Good luck!