Tarta de Limón con Cerezas Borrachas
It’s no surprise that lime is used widely in Mexican cooking, although it can be confusing because the translation is limón. We don’t have the yellow lemon (well, it is very rare). Lime’s lovely puckery, tart flavor is celebrated in many of our preparations, including this one. The filling for the tart is essentially a curd with a creamy texture and a bright flavor. I don’t like to hide the qualities of the lime at all, and I love the combination of cherries with it. I originally made the fruit mixture with capulines, dark-fleshed wild cherries with large pits, but I’ve never seen them outside Mexico; regular cherries or blueberries are a tasty substitute.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 10 to 12
Ingredients
Filling
Drunken Cherries
Preparation
Step 1
Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, with a lightly floured rolling pin, until it’s about 12 inches round and 1/4 inch thick. Place in a 9-inch tart mold, pressing the dough to the edges. Trim the edges with a small sharp knife and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Step 2
While the crust chills, preheat the oven to 375°F.
Step 3
Prick the dough lightly with a fork. Line the chilled shell with a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil, leaving 1-inch overhang on all sides. Fill it with pie weights, dried beans, or rice (this will prevent it from bubbling). Bake until the edges are pale golden, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove the parchment with the weights and continue baking until deep golden all around, about 12 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and let cool.
Step 4
TO MAKE THE FILLING, put about 2 inches of water in a medium-size saucepan and bring to a boil. In a large heatproof bowl, whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, sugar, salt, and lime juice. Set the bowl over the saucepan (it shouldn’t touch the water) and whisk continuously (hold the bowl with one hand and the whisk with the other) until the mixture has thickened (turn the bowl often so there’s even heat) and you can see a trail left by the whisk in the bottom of the bowl. Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter a little at a time until the mixture is smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve if there are any lumps and pour directly into the cooled tart shell.
Step 5
Turn on the broiler and place the tart on the top shelf of the oven; leave the oven door slightly ajar. Turn the tart carefully as it starts to brown (this won’t take long at all, so be very careful), and then remove from the oven. Allow to cool for at least 1 hour.
Step 6
TO MAKE THE DRUNKEN CHERRIES, place the cherries in a medium-large pan. Sift the confectioner’s sugar on top, place over medium heat, and stir lightly. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape the seeds into the pan with the tip of a knife, and add the pod. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Add the lime zest and turn off the heat. Remove the pod, stir in the tequila, and set aside (this can be made up to 3 days in advance). Serve at room temperature or slightly warm.
Step 7
Serve at room temperature or chilled with the drunken cherries on the side.
