Today we are going to make a cool lemon tart with a saltine cracker crust which is out of this world delicious. I intend on serving this over Labor Day. We will have Bev visiting over the holiday weekend and I think this will be the perfect dessert. Let's get started.
First thing, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
We will begin by making the crust using saltine crackers. I used the food processor for this step. You want them crushed, but not pulverized. Some large pieces are fine and even desirable.
We will need 60 crackers in total. I crushed them in the food processor in two batches of 30 crackers each.
This is the consistency you are looking for. You want them crushed sufficiently but not too fine.
Place the crushed saltines in a large glass bowl.
Measure out three tablespoons of sugar and one teaspoon ground cinnamon.
Add the sugar and ground cinnamon to the crushed saltines and mix in with a fork or your clean hands.
Add one-half cup room temperature unsalted butter. (One-half cup butter is one stick.) You see this butter has been completely softened to room temperature. It must be room temperature or you will not achieve the consistency you need in the crust.
Knead in the butter with your hands until the crumbs hold together like dough. Press into an 8-inch square baking dish. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Then bake for eighteen minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
While the crust is cooling, begin making the filling.
Find the can of sweetened condensed milk.
Empty the can of sweetened condensed milk into a large mixing bowl. Use a small spatula to remove it all to the mixing bowl.
Separate four eggs. (Save the egg whites for a souffle!) One of the yolks broke but no biggie.
Add the egg yolks to the condensed milk.
Give this a good mix with the hand mixer using the whisk attachments.
Find your lemons and limes because we are going to use a combination of both.
The riper the fruit the easier it is to extract the juice.
We used four lemons and four limes for this dish.
This gave us one-half cup of fresh lemon/lime juice. Do not use the concentrated lemon and lime juice from the bottle for this recipe.
Add the juice to the milk and egg mixture and beat in until you have completely combined these ingredients.
Pour this mixture into the shell and bake for sixteen minutes until the filling has set.
Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack. Once it has reached room temperature, wrap tightly and place into the refrigerator overnight. This tart needs to be completely cold before slicing.
Once completely cooled in the refrigerator, it is time to make the whipped cream. Start by adding three tablespoons of confectioner's sugar to the bowl.
Then add one cup of heaving whipping cream.
Again, using the whisk attachments on your handheld mixer, whisk the cream and sugar together until stiff peaks form. Before mixing, place your whisk attachments in the freezer and your metal mixing bowl in the refrigerator or freezer, if you have room, for 30 minutes so that they will be sufficiently cool when used the make the whipped cream. The coldness helps the cream set up nicely. Use immediately.
Retrieve your tart from the refrigerator and slice into squares. Add a hearty topping of fresh whipped cream and a sprinkling of sea salt and you are in for a taste sensation.
You will not want to miss serving this at your next function. You will get nine good sized squares from the pan. Try this immediately.
First thing, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
We will begin by making the crust using saltine crackers. I used the food processor for this step. You want them crushed, but not pulverized. Some large pieces are fine and even desirable.
We will need 60 crackers in total. I crushed them in the food processor in two batches of 30 crackers each.
This is the consistency you are looking for. You want them crushed sufficiently but not too fine.
Place the crushed saltines in a large glass bowl.
Measure out three tablespoons of sugar and one teaspoon ground cinnamon.
Add the sugar and ground cinnamon to the crushed saltines and mix in with a fork or your clean hands.
Add one-half cup room temperature unsalted butter. (One-half cup butter is one stick.) You see this butter has been completely softened to room temperature. It must be room temperature or you will not achieve the consistency you need in the crust.
Knead in the butter with your hands until the crumbs hold together like dough. Press into an 8-inch square baking dish. Chill in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
Then bake for eighteen minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Let cool to room temperature.
While the crust is cooling, begin making the filling.
Find the can of sweetened condensed milk.
Empty the can of sweetened condensed milk into a large mixing bowl. Use a small spatula to remove it all to the mixing bowl.
Separate four eggs. (Save the egg whites for a souffle!) One of the yolks broke but no biggie.
Add the egg yolks to the condensed milk.
Give this a good mix with the hand mixer using the whisk attachments.
Find your lemons and limes because we are going to use a combination of both.
Use the ripest fruit you can find.
The riper the fruit the easier it is to extract the juice.
We used four lemons and four limes for this dish.
This gave us one-half cup of fresh lemon/lime juice. Do not use the concentrated lemon and lime juice from the bottle for this recipe.
Add the juice to the milk and egg mixture and beat in until you have completely combined these ingredients.
Pour this mixture into the shell and bake for sixteen minutes until the filling has set.
Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack. Once it has reached room temperature, wrap tightly and place into the refrigerator overnight. This tart needs to be completely cold before slicing.
Once completely cooled in the refrigerator, it is time to make the whipped cream. Start by adding three tablespoons of confectioner's sugar to the bowl.
Then add one cup of heaving whipping cream.
Again, using the whisk attachments on your handheld mixer, whisk the cream and sugar together until stiff peaks form. Before mixing, place your whisk attachments in the freezer and your metal mixing bowl in the refrigerator or freezer, if you have room, for 30 minutes so that they will be sufficiently cool when used the make the whipped cream. The coldness helps the cream set up nicely. Use immediately.
Retrieve your tart from the refrigerator and slice into squares. Add a hearty topping of fresh whipped cream and a sprinkling of sea salt and you are in for a taste sensation.
You will not want to miss serving this at your next function. You will get nine good sized squares from the pan. Try this immediately.
