Delicious Key Lime Tarts

These key lime tarts are very pretty and just the perfect amount of tartness! I especially enjoy making treats for a party. My daughter and I made these tarts for a casual afternoon tea party. To make key lime tarts, I mixed up a batch of rich tart pastry. I filled the pastry shells with simple key lime pie filling. This baking project was both easy and delicious!

Learn how to make a batch of your own key lime tarts to wow your friends. I think the miniature size of these tarts are just darling. You can fill your tarts with practically any delicious custard or pie filling. On this occasion, we made key lime tarts!

Rich Tart Pastry Dough

To make any kind of tarts, first, you’ll need to make the miniature rich tart pastry shells. I pressed the rich tart pastry dough into small tart tins I picked up at a garage sale. The tart tins set I have includes medium and small sizes.

Combine the following ingredients to make rich tart pastry dough. The recipe I use is a variation of a Better Homes & Gardens pastry recipe. One batch of rich tart pastry dough makes about 8 medium 3″ tarts.

1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup chilled butter
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp. ice water

Mix together the flour and the sugar. Cut in the chilled butter using a pastry cutter.

In a separate bowl, mix together the egg yolks and ice water. Slowly add the eggs and water into the flour mixture, stirring until just combined.

Knead the dough into a ball and chill for 30 minutes.

Spray the pastry tins with non-stick cooking spray.

Flour your surface. Roll out the pastry dough until it is 1/8″ thick. Cut out the dough into circles. If you don’t have a round cookie cutter, you can trace around the edge of a jar or drinking glass to make the dough circles.

Finally, press the dough into the pastry tins, trimming the edges. Set them aside and prepare the filling.

Key Lime Tart Filling

One you’ve made the tart pastry dough, it’s time to make the filling! I used regular limes to make these “key lime tarts” and they seemed to work just fine.

1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup sour cream
6 tbsp. key lime juice
2 tsp. grated lime zest
1 drop green food coloring (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Use a hand mixer to mix together the sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice and lime zest until smooth.

Spoon the filling into each tart tin.

Bake the tarts for 10 minutes until set. Don’t let them brown!

Allow the tarts to fully cool. Use a thin knife to carefully pry the tarts out of their tins. Place the tarts on a plate and refrigerate them until chilled.

You can even garnish your tarts! We used whipped cream, fresh raspberries and mint leaves.

My girls and I had fun making these tarts for our afternoon tea party. I really enjoy baking and making fancy treats. Additionally, my kids benefit from learning new skills in the kitchen and following directions. These lime tarts turned out darling and sweetly tangy, just like key lime pie!

Katie Wallace

Hi, I’m Katie! I live with my husband and 4 kids in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I love Jesus, coffee, creative projects, photography, and traveling. I’ve previously worked as a web designer, journalist, and barista. I hope you enjoy our creative projects and family adventures!