Key lime meringue tart

D has the world's most non-existent sweet tooth. He never craves sweets, he doesn't care for cake and he'll walk past cookies. I can't imagine how he manages.

He does, however, love anything to do with key limes. And his requests for dessert are so few and far between that when he asked me to make the key lime meringue tart from the latest issue of Bon Appetit, I agreed immediately.

And then I read the recipe. Ouch. It takes up a whole page and involves the use of a double boiler, a candy thermometer and a fine mesh strainer. Signs that a recipe might be a bit more involved than I need it to be on a Sunday afternoon. I persevered. It really wasn't difficult - it just required that I actually pay attention to what I'm doing.

{key lime tart - not burned, just shadowy}

I made a simple change with the tart crust and pulsed the cold butter and cream cheese in the food processor with the flour instead of using the mixer. Because it is tart crust heresy to cream your butter and I couldn't bring myself to do it, even though that was what the recipe said.

I browned the meringue in the broiler because I don't own a kitchen torch. It worked a bit too well on the first try and I had to scrape the blackened meringue off and put a new layer on and try again (do not leave the kitchen, even for a second, if you have meringue in your broiler - that is my advice).

It was delicious, but quite a bit of work - I recommend it if you are feeling relaxed and want to spend a bit of time in the kitchen. I can't bring myself to re-type the recipe, but you can find it in it's entirety here.