Lime tart

We currently have a few limes on our tree. Mum and Dad gave it to me for my birthday three years ago and it has finally given us fruit. On our quest for recipes using limes we were lent the "marie claire flavours" book (by Donna Hay!) by another neighbour.

This tart was made with fresh limes from our tree and eggs from our neighbour's chickens.

Pastry
2 cups plain flour
155g butter, chopped
iced water
Lime Tart
1 cup caster sugar
4 eggs
1 cup cream
1 cup lime juice

Place the flour and butter in a food processor and process until the mixture has formed fine crumbs. Add enough iced water to form a soft dough. Remove the dough from the food processor and knead lightly. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling to prevent shrinkage when baked.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Roll out the pastry to fit a 25cm removable base tart tin. Prick a few holes in the pastry and line with non-stick baking paper. Fill with rice or baking weights and paper and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the baking weights and paper and bake for a further 10 minutes. This process is called blind baking and will keep the tart shell crisp when filled with a wet filling.

To make the lime filling, place the sugar, eggs, cream and lime juice in a bowl and mix to combine. Skim the top of the mixture to remove any bubbles or foam. Pour into the tart shell, reduce the oven to 160C and bake for 20-25 minutes of until the filling is just set. Refrigerate the tart until firm.
To serve, cut into wedges and serve with thick cream or ice cream.


Notes
- The filling was nice and tart and tasty. There just was not enough of it in ratio to the pastry!
- The amount of pastry in the recipe is too much for the tin. The tart recipe refers to the generic short crust pastry recipe in the book. The quantity of 2 cups of flour seemed high, however I was cooking in a new tin (28cm) and thought that I might need the extra. Once I rolled it out it seemed quite thick, but I perservered. Sadly, the pastry let the filling down, and I will use a different recipe next time.
- I had about twice as much filling as I could fit in the tin, so I used circles cut out of puff pastry. I baked them at the same temperature as the large tart, and the puff pastry did not cook properly. I should have puffed it up first too! I will know for next time.
- If I had a jug big enough for the filling I would mix it up in the jug. I would leave the tart shell on the oven shelf and pour the filling directly in. My oven shelves pull out so I am able to do that.