Lavender Lime Tarts

I made these for the Small Tarts Have Big Hearts contest at the Mini Pie Revolution blog. I have Karyn and Ann of the Mini Pie Revolution to thank for my ability to enter this contest, as they awarded me the mini tart pans I needed in order to make the tarts.

I consciously made this recipe far simpler than my last entry–it’s about as easy as you can get for making a crust, a filling and a garnish. Ironically, these pies took me much longer to perfect than my previous more complicated ones. I based the filling on a lavender frozen yogurt recipe, which is familiar territory for me. I know very little about baked custards and traditional pies, though, and I had a lot to learn before I was able to come up with a tart with a good filling constency and balanced flavor between the components. I’m still not 100% certain on the baking time needed to set the custard, but I’m pretty sure the time I’ve listed will set it without overcooking it.

The intensity of the lavender aroma varies significantly while you’re making these. It can seem far too intense during the boiling of the lavender syrup, but, by the time you’ve baked the pies, it’s become more of a nuance than a strong flavor because of the graham cracker crust and ganache counterpoints.

scant 1/4 cup sugar

4 TB. butter or margarine, melted

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1 TB. lavender buds, lightly crushed with fingers or a mortar and pestle

1/3 cup Greek (or strained*) plain yogurt

1/3 cup sour cream

Juice of 1/2 lime

2 egg yolks

a pinch of salt

1 oz. chocolate chips (or chopped bittersweet or semisweet chocolate)

1 t. heavy cream (or 1/2 t. neutral oil)

2 t. butter

1 t. orange zest (the zest from one medium orange)

(1) Spray 10 mini tart pans with cooking spray and place on a cookie sheet. Combine first three ingredients, press into pans, and bake in a 350 degree oven for 6–8 minutes. Remove from the oven, but keep the pans on the cookie sheet and do not turn off the oven.

(2) Boil together sugar, water and lavender buds in the smallest saucepan you have. Simmer for two minutes. Remove from heat and cool for five minutes or so.

(3) Whisk together yogurt and sour cream. Strain in lavender syrup and add lime juice, egg yolks and salt. Whisk until smooth.

(4) Spoon in filling into pie crusts and bake for 15–20 minutes**

(5) Cool tarts on a rack. They are best removed from the pans while still slightly warm by inserting a sharp, narrow knife along the edges and inverting the tarts.

(6) Combine last four ingredients in a small bowl and microwave for about 15–30 seconds. Stir until smooth. Spoon into a sandwich bag, cut a tiny bit off of the corner, and push out filling into heart shapes on tarts.

*to make 1/3 cup strained yogurt, place 2/3 cup yogurt in a fine mesh sieve or a regular sieve lined with cheesecloth. Place in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight, until you have 1/3 cup of yogurt that is about the consistency of cream cheese.

**my original idea was to pipe some of the orange ganache into the bottom of the crusts as well decorating the top. I wasn’t sure about room for this in the tarts but, next time I make these, I’ll probably double the ganache recipe and do this.