My attempt at key lime tarts

Give me a dessert with lime/ lemon or anything zesty and citrusy, and I’m in sugar haven!  Of course, I love the occasional chocolate sweets but what really gets me going are the lemony types.

When we were in the States last year, I went sugar over-load savoring those key-lime pies for our desserts.  So this time round, I decided to try my hand at making some of these refreshing key lime tarts to satisfy those zesty-sugar cravings of mine.

Found a pretty simple recipe that a noob like me could follow closely for now, best part?  It doesn’t require any form of baking!  All I needed to get mini tart crusts that I got off the shelves from the supermarket.  The Man and I tried making the lime curd last week but followed the instructions wrongly, so I decided to re-do the whole batch of lime curd again.  And after slogging in the test kitchen for about 1.5hours, I popped these babies into the fridge to be chilled.  I’m pretty happy at how it turned out- both visually and in the taste department.

Refreshing whipped key lime tarts [Recipe slightly adapted from Barbara Bakes]

Makes about 12 tarts

Ingredients:

For the lime curd

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 whole egg
• 1 egg yolk
• The juice from 5 key limes
• The zest from 2 key limes
• 3 tablespoons of butter

For the key lime filling of the tarts

• 200ml key lime curd
• 200ml of whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 Tablespoon of sugar

Method:

1. To make the Lime Curd: 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. Sieve the lime curd if needed to remove the zest bits.  Let the mixture cool. You could store the mixture in jars or an airtight container for up to one month in the refrigerator.
2. To make the tart filling: 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. Chill 2 hours then top with additional whipped cream if desired. I decorated the tarts with a slice of lemon and blueberries. Allow tarts to come to room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.

These tarts were simply refreshing and what I really needed to kick-start the week.  I couldn’t stop stuffing my face with them for it’s light and easy to eat!

OOH and update!  Probably inspired by these awesome food-bloggers – R from The Pleasure Monger and Sherie from Maameemoo – I’ve been playing around with my camera and attempting to take better stylised pictures with the food that I’ve been cooking.   Frustrated with a couple of failed submissions to Foodgawker and TasteSpotting, I decided to ‘suck’ in it and try harder at improving my styling skills and fooling around with the SLR that I loaned from the Man.  Also, thanks to the tips from R and online research, I’m finally happy with the shots that I took of the tarts.  Must have taken like 50 shots!  So, I submitted them to Foodgawker. It’s finally been accepted and published!!!!  It’s picture #10862! It’s also been featured on Tastelogie and Photograzing. 

So… at first you don’t succeed, you just keep on trying!

Baking 101

It’s the long weekend and if you ain’t out of town, then you better occupy yourself with something in Geneva for the shops are shut on this public holiday.  The Man had to work so I arranged for a cupcake date with E who’s graciously opened her kitchen for these baking experiments that I’ve been keen to try.

Her kids are choco-lovers so we whipped up a batch of chocolate cupcakes which they happily decorated with marshmallows and sprinkle toppings.  We had more time to spare and those lemon cupcakes that R from the Pleasure Monger whipped up recently have been on the back of my mind for I was craving for some ‘zing in my sweet treats‘ [Quote from the talented Ms R as well].  So we baked up another batch of lemon cupcakes rather quickly.

Chocolate cupcakes (Recipe from Hummingbird Bakery)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup All-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Line 12 hole cupcake pan with paper cases.
2. Preheat the oven to 165 degrees.
3. Put the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter and beat on slow speed using a hand-held electric whisk until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.
4. Whisk the milk, egg, and vanilla together in a bowl, then slowly pour about half into the flour mixture, beat to combine, and turn the mixture up to high speed to get rid of any lumps.
5. Turn the mixture down to a slower speed and slowly pour in the remaining milk mixture (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula). Continue mixing for a couple more minutes until the batter is smooth but do not overmix.
6. Spoon the batter into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the cake bounces back when touched. A skewer inserted into the center should come out clean. Let the cupcakes cool slightly in the pan before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

When the cupcakes are cold, spoon the chocolate frosting on top and decorate with desired toppers such as sprinkles or mini-marshmallows.

Chocolate Frosting (enough to frost 12 cupcakes)

2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
6 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup unsweeted cocoa powder, sifted
2 tablespoons whole milk

Beat the confectioners’ sugar, butter, and cocoa together in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed. Turn the mixer down to a slower speed. Add the milk to the butter mixture a couple of teaspoons at a time. Once the milk has been incorporated, turn the mixer up to high speed. Continue beating until the frosting is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. The longer the frosting is beaten, the fluffier and lighter it becomes.

And here’s my feeble attempt with R’s lemon cupcakes recipe which I tweaked slightly.   The photos obviously don’t do the recipe any justice – Sorry R, I tried my best.. but it was pretty tough trying to do the frosting for the cupcakes.  Like I said, Baking 101 for me.. so baby steps and hopefully I will improve with time.

Zesty Lemon Cupcakes (Recipe adapted from R at the Pleasure Monger):

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup All-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon of lemon zest

Method: As per chocolate cupcakes recipe.

For the whipped cream:

200ml whipping cream
2 and 1/2 tablespoons caster sugar (adjust to taste)

A very, very tiny drop of liquid green food colouring (we mixed blue and yellow colouring and got a funky pale shade of green)

Whisk cream,colouring and sugar till stiff peaks are formed.  Frost cupcakes and decorate with sprinkling of grated lime zest and sprinkles (if desired).