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Coconut Lime Tart

A coconut lime tart with a decorative ring of berries and fruit

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5 from 1 review

This fresh, bright creamy lime coconut curd is baked inside of a toasted coconut pastry shell to make for a bright tropical tart. This Coconut Lime Tart is perfect any time of year. 

Ingredients

For Coconut Crust:

  • 1-1/4 cup (150 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup (30 grams) shredded coconut, toasted
  • 1/4 cup (30 grams) powdered sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • ½ cup (112 grams) unsalted butter, cold, diced 
  • 1 large egg

For Coconut Lime Filling:

  • 2-1/4 cups (510 grams) coconut cream (see note)
  • 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
  • 2 tablespoons (15 grams) cornstarch
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 1/3 cup (75 grams) fresh-squeezed lime juice
  • 2 tablespoons (25 grams) unsalted butter, cubed (optional)
  • 2 tablespoons lime zest

Instructions

Make the Pie Crust:

  1. Add the flour, toasted shredded coconut, powdered sugar and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Process for 1 minute to break down the coconut.
  2. Add in the butter and pulse 5-7 times, or until the butter is broken down into small pieces.
  3. With the motor running, pour in the egg and let the dough process until it forms together into a cohesive ball around the blade, about 1 minute.
  4. Transfer the dough to a piece of plastic wrap and form into a disk and wrap tightly.
  5. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
  6. Preheat the oven to 375ºF
  7. Roll out the dough to a rough 11″ circle and place inside of a 9″ tart pan. Pierce the bottom of the pastry with a fork to allow the steam to escape when baking. Place the pastry in the freezer for 10 minutes to chill.
  8. Line the pastry with a round piece of parchment paper and then add pie weights to fill (or dry rice or beans or lentils), making sure to push pie weights up against the edges. Bake for 20 minutes on the lower rack, then remove from the oven and remove the parchment and pie weights. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
  9. Remove from the oven and let cool.
  10. Turn down the oven to 350ºF.

Make the Filling:

  1. Add coconut cream to a medium nonreactive pot and bring the cream up to a boil over medium heat. Continue to boil, for 5 minutes. The coconut cream can potentially boil over, so stay close to moderate the heat, turning it down as necessary, to prevent the cream from boiling over and stirring every few minutes. After 5 minutes, the cream should be reduced to about 2 cups. Shut off the heat and let cool slightly.
  2. Meanwhile, whisk together sugar and cornstarch in a medium bowl. Whisk in the egg yolks and lime juice vigorously until the mixture has lightened in color.
  3. Next, temper the egg mixture: Slowly pour in about 1/4 cup of the warm reduced coconut cream to the eggs, while gently whisking. Then, pour the whole egg mixture slowly into the pot of the coconut cream while gently whisking.
  4. Turn on the heat to medium and cook the mixture, whisking constantly until the filling has completely thickened and large bubbles are forming and popping, about 4-6 minutes.
  5. Remove from heat; immediately pour the lime coconut curd through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl, using a spatula to push all the curd out while leaving behind any bits of cooked egg.
  6. Whisk the butter and the lime zest into the curd.
  7. Transfer the coconut lime curd to the baked tart shell, and smooth over the top.
  8. Bake in the center rack for 10 minutes, until the filling is set.
  9. Let cool on a cooling rack until it has reached room temperature. Transfer to the refrigerator to finish chilling, at least 4 hours or overnight.
  10. Decorate the pie with fresh fruit and berries, as desired.

Notes

Coconut cream is the opaque milky thick part that rises to the top of a can of full-fat chilled coconut milk. It is comparable to the difference between dairy cream and milk. You can also buy it separately, in a can labeled as coconut cream. It will likely take you about two (14 ounce) cans of full-fat coconut milk to get 2 cups of coconut cream. Make sure they are chilled and not hot when you open them so that the cream can separate from the clear liquid in the coconut milk can. Use any leftover coconut milk in smoothies!

Don’t skimp on the lime zest, it truly adds a ton of flavor to this tart.

It’s optional to whisk the butter into the filling at the end. It rounds out the flavor of the coconut and lime, but it is completely optional.