The Copper Pot: Key Lime Tarts and Meyer Lemon Tarts


Grapefruit, Persian Lime, Key Limes, Meyer Lemons, Clementines

I love fruit and my fridge always has a variety in all colors of the rainbow for my family to choose from. In the winter I stock up on grapefruit, oranges, clementines, lemons and limes. Here I have a couple of specialty fruits that you can only find at the store on occasion. The bottom right shows a Meyer Lemon. It is slightly orange in color as it is a cross between a lemon and a mandarin orange. As a result it is slightly sweeter than a regular lemon.

Key limes, at the top right, are bite size little beauties that are aptly named after Key West where they grow. I was first exposed to Key Lime Pie in Florida where I lived for many years. It is sweet and tart and absolutely heavenly. My husband and I recently went on a date and were very disappointed to find out that the Key Lime Pie on the menu was served only in the summer. Well luck would have it that at the store yesterday I saw Key Limes and sitting right next to the little green gems were the Meyer Lemons. I grabbed both and knew that I had to make some sort of decadent dessert.

I knew I wanted to make a mini tart that was somehow lower in fat so I did a bunch of Googling. Is that an official word yet?? The recipes are based on a Paula Deen recipe that I tweaked. These little tarts are a perfect finish to a Sunday meal. They were easy to make and tasted amazing. Be careful they are definitely addictive!


Key Lime Tarts

Key Lime Mini Tarts

Serving Size = 1

Servings = 12
WW Pts. + = 3

Ingredients:

1/2 C. sugar

8 oz. light cream cheese, softened (I used Weight Watchers)

1 large egg
1 tsp. Key Lime zest
2 Tbsp. Key Lime juice (approx. 7 Key Limes)
Fat free Cool Whip
1/3 C. Lemon wafer cookies, crushed. approx. 8-9 cookies (I used Kroger brand and I don't know if anyone else makes them)
2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F
Spray muffin cups with non - stick spray (I used paper liners and sprayed, but they still stuck. Next time I will just spray the cup and not use the paper liners.)
In a small bowl mix melted butter and crushed wafer cookies.
Press approximately 1 -1 1/4 packed tsp. in the bottom of 12 regular muffin cups. Reserve any leftover.
Bake for 7 min, allow to cool.
Meanwhile mix softened cream cheese, egg, sugar, lime juice, and lime zest and blend well.
Pour 1/8th C. into each of the 12 muffin cups and bake 16-18 minutes.
Cool completely and then place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour.
Place Cool Whip in a large pastry or plastic baggie and squeeze into one corner. Cut the tip ~ 1/4 ".
Pipe approx. 1 1/2 Tbsp. onto the top of each mini tart, sprinkle with a few of the wafer crumbs and garnish with a small slice of lime.

Key Lime Mini Tarts

Meyer Lemon Mini Tarts

These are pretty much the same as the Key Lime tarts except I used 3 Tbsp. of juice instead of 2. I also love the sweetness of strawberries with the tartness of lemons so I garnished some of them a little differently.