Description
This bright and zesty Key Lime Tequila Tart with Pretzel Crust combines a tangy key lime filling with a tequila chaser and a satisfyingly crunchy salted pretzel crust, topped with boozy tequila laced whipped cream.
Ingredients
Units
Pretzel Crust
- unsalted butter - 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons)
- light brown sugar (firmly packed - 2 tablespoons)
- salted pretzel twists - 3 cups
Key Lime Tequila Filling
- large egg yolks (at room temperature - 3)
- sweetened condensed milk - 1 (14 ounce can)
- freshly squeezed key lime juice - 1/3 cup (about 15-18 key limes)
- good quality tequila - 3 tablespoons
Tequila Whipped Cream
- heavy cream - 1 cup
- granulated sugar - 2 tablepoons
- tequila - 1 tablespoon
- whole key limes for topping - 2-3
- Maldon sea salt flakes (for topping - 1 tablespoon)
Instructions
Pretzel Crust
- Preheat the oven to 325° F.
- Lightly grease a 14" x 5" loose bottom rectangular tart pan with butter or vegetable oil. Place the tart pan on a baking sheet.
- Pulse the pretzels in a food processor until they are fairly finely ground, with some larger pea-sized chunks remaining. Pour into a large mixing bowl.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Continue to heat, stirring frequently, until the butter starts to foam up and brown bits begin to form. Whisk in the brown sugar and stir until fully dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Pour the butter mixture over the ground pretzels and stir to combine. The mixture should look like wet sand. Transfer the crumb mixture into the prepared tart pan and use a spatula to spread the mixture evenly into the pan and up the sides slightly.
- Bake the tart on the the baking sheet for about 15 minutes, until it starts to turn a deep brown and looks set. Set aside and allow the crust to cool completely.
Key Lime Filling
- Turn the oven up to 350° F.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and the egg yolks until smooth. Add the fresh squeezed key lime juice and the tequila and continue whisking until completely smooth.
- Gently pour the filling mixture into the cooled pretzel crust shell and smooth out the top with the back of a spatula. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the filling is set and doesn't jiggle when you shake it.
- Place on a cooling rack and allow tart to cool completely. Once cooled, transfer to the refrigerator and allow the filling to set for at least 2 hours.
Tequila Whipped Cream
- Chill the metal bowl and whisk of a stand mixer in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.
- Pour the heavy cream and tequila into the chilled bowl and whisk on a medium-high speed for about 1 minute.
- Add the sugar and beat for a couple more minutes until soft peaks form.
- Chill in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve the tart.
Serve
- Gently push up on the tart loose bottom of the tart pan to release from the sides.
- Carefully cut the tart into wedges (about 9 with sacrificial half slices on each end).
- Top each slice with whipped cream, lime zest, a thinly sliced lime pinwheel and an optional sprinkle of flake salt (if you're the "with salt" type).
- Serve with a shot of tequila, obviously.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes