Café Key Lime Crunch Tart | The Café Sucre Farine 17/01/2020, 23)21

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May 14, 2016

Café Key Lime Crunch Tart

Print Recipe Jump to Recipe Total Time: 45 minutes

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With a coconut-almond shortbread crust and a delicious sweet/tart filling, this Key Lime
Crunch Tart is always a hit!

Do you remember the children’s game called “telephone”? I clearly recall the first time I ever played it.
We all sat in a circle at a birthday party. A parent whispered a “secret” phrase to one of the children. The
“secret” was passed around the circle until it got to the last child, who had to say it aloud to the group.
The final phrase was nothing like the original. Did you ever think about the fact that lots of recipes go
through the “telephone” game? This delicious Key Lime Crunch Tart is the perfect example!

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I saw a recipe for Lemon Crunch Bars over at The View from Great Island, one of my favorite blogs. (If
you’re not familiar with this beautiful blog, be sure to check it out. I never fail to be amazed at Sue’s
creativity, gorgeous photography and delicious recipes.) The light lemony dessert looked so good, and I
couldn’t stop thinking about it. It wasn’t more than a few days before I had to try it out.

If you’ve been following The Café for any length of time, you might be guessing that I “personalized”
the dessert a bit. Yup, you’re right!

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I decided to double the filling and since we’re huge fans of Key-lime desserts, I went that route instead
of lemon. The crust is a little different too, with crushed shortbread cookies, almonds and coconut;
versus the gingersnaps called for in the original recipe.

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I’ve been serving this wonderful dessert to everyone who’s come my way for the past month, each time
tweaking it just a bit. It’s perfect now and ready for you. I love that it can be made a day in advance and
stored in the fridge, or a week in advance and plopped in the freezer! If frozen, all you need to do is
transfer it to the refrigerator a few hours before serving.

It’s fabulous on it’s own, or with a dollop of whipped cream and a few fresh berries for a pretty garnish. I
make it in a 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, but you could also make it in a square pan (like
Sue does) or a springform pan. It’s one of those desserts that seems to go with just about any kind of
meal; traditional, international, casual, fancy…

Sue adapted her recipe from a recipe from The Guardian. The Guardian got the recipe from Tim
Siadatan, the chef at Trullo, a British Italian restaurant in North London. Siadatan got the recipe from
his mom. I love what he said about the original recipe, “I asked my siblings for their favourite dishes and
everyone said the lemon crunch pie. I haven’t met a human being yet who doesn’t dig it.” Now that
description, in addition to Sue’s pictures and blurb, was what took me over the top, I had to try it (to the
delight of my numerous taste-testers).

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Okay, so you know what I’m wondering, right? What did his mom’s Lemon Crunch Pie look like and
where in the world (literally) did she get the recipe and who originally came up with the recipe? Hey,
maybe it started out as Key Lime and now we’ve come full-circle! See what I mean? Just like the
telephone game!

P.S. Okay, true confessions here. I don’t use Key limes in this recipe (or in my Key lime pie either). I use
regular old grocery store limes. I just think there’s something more enticing and exciting about the
name Key Lime Crunch Tart versus Lime Crunch Tart, but you can call it whatever you want. Everyone
who tastes it will be sure to call it delicious!

Café Tips for making this Key Lime Crunch Tart…

Use other good quality shortbread cookies if you can’t find Lorna Dunes.
I use one of these zesters. They’re inexpensive and easy to use.
You can also use a 9-inch square pan (bars will be a bit deeper) or a 10-inch springform pan.
If you can find Key limes, they are wonderful, but they’re not always readily available. Regular fresh
lime juice will work just fine.

Key Lime Crunch Tart 5 from 12 votes

With a crunchy coconut-almond shortbread crust and a creamy, light key

Print
lime filling, this easy, make-ahead Key Lime Crunch Tart is ALWAYS a hit!

Author: Chris Scheuer

Ingredients
5 ounces Lorna Dune Shortbread Cookies*
1 cup sweetened, shredded coconut very lightly packed
1 cup sliced almonds I use raw, sliced almonds
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
6 tablespoons melted butter
2 cups heavy cream
1 14- ounce can sweetened condensed milk Course: Dessert
½ cup fresh squeezed lime juice Cuisine: American
finely grated zest from 3 medium size limes reserve about 1 teaspoon for Keyword: Key Lime
garnishing top of tart.** Crunch Tart

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US Customary - Metric Prep Time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 15 mins
Instructions
Total Time: 45 mins
1. Preheat oven to 325˚F.
Servings: 12 servings
2. Combine Lorna Dune cookies, sliced almonds, coconut and sugar in the bowl
Calories: 443 kcal
of a food processor. Pulse until mixture is coarsely chopped. Add butter and
pulse a few more times to combine.
3. Dump cookie mixture into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom**.
Pat mixture up sides of pan forming a fairly thick edge. Pat remaining
crumbs across bottom of pan.
4. Place pan in oven and bake crust for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Set aside to cool completely.
5. Whip the cream until soft peaks form when you lift the beater. Fold in the
condensed milk, lime juice and lime zest (save a teaspoon for the top).
Spread the filling into the pan evenly, swirling the top a bit. Sprinkle with
reserved lime zest and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Serve
with a dollop of whipped cream, a thin half slice of lime and a sprig of mint,
if desired.
6. If you want to make this farther in advance (a week or two), just freeze it
instead of refrigerating. Transfer from freezer to refridg a few hours before
serving.

Calories 443kcal Fat 32g Saturated fat 17g

Cholesterol 83mg Sodium 173mg Potassium 260mg
Carbohydrates 32g Fiber 1g Sugar 23g
Protein 6g Vitamin A 865% Vitamin C 1.4%
Calcium 157% Iron 0.9%

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