Sundays are for spending time with your friends and family and for cakes. During the summer season I love exploring the countryside by bike. We pack our picnic bags with loads of food and spend the days cycling along rivers and lakes until we find the perfect spot for our picnic. I usually prepare light salads and sandwiches but I also bring coffee in a thermos and cake. The best cake for hot summer days is this refreshing lime basil tart.
Lime and Basil are a perfect pairing for summer desserts. It has a lovely creamy texture and beautifully balances the flavours of the lime and basil. It’s best served straight from the fridge with a few leaves of fresh basil.
This lime basil tart has a wonderful creamy texture and beautifully balances the flavours of lime and basil. Perfect for the summer season.
Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Add the cold butter straight from the fridge into the flour and rub in the mixture. Add the sugar, mix together the eggs and egg yolk, and add to the mixture. Gently mix with a dough scraper or with your hands until the dough comes together in a ball. Lightly flour your work surface, tip the pastry ball onto it, and knead with your hands until you have a smooth dough. Wrap it in clingfilm and let it rest in your fridge for at least 1 hour.
For the shortcrust pastry, preheat the oven to 190C°. I have baking tins which don't need greasing if you don't, then lightly grease and flour your tins.
Remove the shortcrust pastry from the fridge and flour your work surface. Roll out the pastry 2-3mm thick and line the 10-12 tins, leaving an overhang of pastry. Prick the bottoms of your pastry with a fork a few times. Place some greaseproof paper on top and fill with baking beans. Now place the pastry tins in your oven and cook for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes remove baking paper and baking beans and leave pastry tins for another 8 minutes in the oven. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Afterwards trim the edges and lift out onto a cooling rack.
Melt the chocolate in a bain marie (water bath). Brush the bottoms of the tarts with melted chocolate and let it cool.
For the Lime Basil filling: Make sure you use organic lime. Put juice of 4 limes and zest of 1 lime into a small pot. Fill up with 200 ml water, add the rice syrup, salt and bunch of basil. Keep 4 - 5 twigs of basil for decoration. Gently stir the mixture and bring it to a boil.
Mix the cornstarch with 3 - 4 tbsp cold water. Add the cornstach mixture to the lime basil filling and bring it to a boil for 1 minute.
Reduce the heat and add 2 - 3 tbsp of your lime mixture to the yolks and stir together. Now add the yolk to the lime mixture and whisk for 4 minutes constantly. Take care that the mixture does not curdle due to excessive heat.
Press the lime basil mixture through a sieve in order to remove any curdled egg and basil leaves. Let the mixture cool down for at least 30 minutes before you fill your tarts. After you filled them, put them in your fridge for at least 5 hours or even better overnight.
When you are ready to serve, decorate with a slice of lime and a few leaves of basil. Bon Appetit!
