Middle Tennessee teased us with a few warm, Spring days and I needed something bright and fresh to go with the Sunshine!

Originally Published 03/07/2021

These Mango Meringue Tarts were just the ticket!

Back when we were in high school, my husband used to make the best lemon meringue pies. I don’t know why he decided to make them, or where he got the recipe, or how he managed it, but each one was perfect! I loved that he was a rough and tumble good ol’ country boy that could also bake a beautiful pie with dainty meringue!

Those pies are what inspired me to make these Mango Meringue Tarts!

Instead of lemon, the center of these is a mango cream. They are topped with a coconut meringue that is quite tasty. But honestly, as with most pies, my favorite part about these tarts is the crust! Coconut Lime Shortbread Crust that is perfectly crumbly sweet with coconut flakes and lime zest throughout.

These do take some time, effort, and a few kitchen gadgets to make, but they’re cute and delicious and well worth the effort! I hope you give the recipe a try!

The Coconut Lime Shortbread Crust for these Mango Meringue Tarts is so good!

It’s rich, buttery, and crumbly, and the coconut flakes and lime zest add dimension to what would be a normal ol’ shortbread cookie. Honestly, in the future, I may need to make this crust into a cookie and enjoy it by itself, it’s that good!

However, it is also the most time-consuming part of this recipe.

Once you get the ingredients all combined, the shortbread dough needs to be divided into eight equal pieces. A kitchen scale comes in handy for this, but you can also just eyeball it! 

Roll each piece of dough

into a thick circle and place it inside the tart rings.  I used my fingers as well as a wood tamper like these to shape the crust.

They do turn out on the thicker side, but I wanted them to be sturdy and to use all the dough. If you’d prefer the crust to be thinner, you can always roll the dough out thinner, there will just be leftover dough which could be frozen and used at a later time.

After all the shortbread crusts have been molded into the tart rings, they need to be chilled for at least 3o minutes. This causes the butter to firm back up and less of it to leak out of the dough while it’s baking.

Before baking the crust for these Mango Meringue Tarts,

cut a small square of parchment paper, press it around the bottom of the tart ring, and fill it up with either pie weights or dry beans. This will help the crust not expand as much while they’re baking.

I baked the shortbread crusts for 25 minutes and then took them out of the oven, carefully turned them upside down while they were still hot, and pushed them out of the molds.

Flipping them right side up, I returned them to the oven and baked them without the tart rings for another 10 minutes to brown them a little more. After this, they can sit on a cooling rack until they are ready to be filled!

Now on to making the filling for these Mango Meringue Tarts!

This part of the recipe is simple! Add three ripe, peeled, cored, and cut-up mangos to your food processor. Add the spices and one cup of sweetened condensed milk and purée until super smooth.

The mango filling also requires a packet of unflavored gelatin to aid in its setting up. Mix the gelatin into 1/4 cup of cold lime juice and then microwave it for 30 seconds.

The gelatin will only dissolve well in cold liquid, but heating it is what activates it.

After 30 seconds in the microwave, stir it one more time and add it to the mango purée. 

The Mango Meringue Tarts are now ready to be filled!

Place the shortbread crusts back on the baking sheet and carefully fill each tart up to the top with the mango cream.

I had some leftover filling. This can be frozen and used later as well.

After the Mango Meringue Tarts are filled, place them back in the fridge for at least two hours so that the filling can cool down and finish setting up!

Once the Mango Meringue Tarts are almost finished chilling, the meringue should be made.

Take the three egg whites that were set aside earlier and put them in your mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add in 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar and begin whipping the egg whites on medium speed until they start to become frothy.

Next, kick up the mixer speed to high, and a little bit at a time, add in all the sugar. Once all the sugar has been added, pour in 1/8 tsp of coconut extract.

Whip the meringue on high until stiff peaks form. When you pull the whisk out, the meringue should stand up by itself! Once this happens, it’s ready to be scooped into a piping bag fitted with a star tip and piped onto the chilled mango tarts.

Finally, toast the meringue and eat these beautiful Mango Meringue Tarts!

My mom bought me a kitchen blow torch for Christmas this last year and I was so excited to try it out on these! Worked like a charm!

However, the meringue on these Mango Meringue Tarts can also be toasted in the oven. Place them on the top rack with the temperature set to broil and keep a close eye on them! They won’t take long to brown.

The Mango Meringue Tarts will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days before the meringue starts to break down, but are best when they’re served right away! This recipe has multiple steps to it, and requires some kitchen gadgets and time, but I hope you try it and have fun with it! Thanks for reading!

Print Recipe

Mango Meringue Tarts with a Coconut Lime Shortbread Crust

A twist on classic lemon meringue pie, these cute little tarts have a delicious coconut lime shortbread crust filled with silky & bright mango cream and are finished off with fluffy, toasted coconut meringue!

Prep Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Crust and Tart Chill Time2 hours hrs 23 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: 8 Tarts

Equipment

• Food Processor
• Kitchenaid Mixer with a whisk attachment
• Kitchen Scale
• Mixing Bowls
• Measuring Cups and Spoons
• Rolling Pin
• Tart Rings
• Baking Sheet
• Parchment Paper
• Pie weights or dry pinto beans
• Piping Bag and Tip
• Kitchen Blowtorch

Ingredients

Coconut Lime Shortbread Crust

• 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Coconut Flakes
• 1 Tbsp Lime Zest 1 lime
• 3/4 Cup Salted Butter 1 1/2 sticks cut into chunks
• 2 Egg Yolks save the egg whites for the meringue
• 1/4 tsp Coconut Extract

Mango Tart Filling

• 2 Cups Mango Purée 3 ripe mangos
• 1/4 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• 1/4 Cup Lime Juice
• 1 packet Unflavored Gelatin
• 1 Cup Sweetened Condensed Milk

Coconut Meringue

• 3 Egg Whites room temperature
• 1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
• 1/4 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/8 tsp Coconut Extract

Instructions

Coconut Lime Shortbread Crust

• In a medium-size mixing bowl add in the all-purpose flour, powdered sugar, coconut flakes, and lime zest and stir together.
• Next, cut up 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) of salted butter into chunks and add it to the dry ingredients. Also, add in the 1/4 tsp of Coconut Extract. Use a pastry blender, or fork to cut the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs the size of peas.
• Add in the two egg yolks. Crack one more egg, discarding the yolk and adding the third egg white to the other two. Save the egg whites to use in the meringue later, leaving them on the counter to warm up to room temperature. Stir in the two yolks until all the ingredients come together.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Use a scale to get the total weight of the shortbread dough and divide it by 8 to get 8 equal pieces of dough. If you don’t have a scale, eye-ball it and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll each piece of dough out into a thick circle the same circumference as the tart ring.
• With the tart ring on the parchment paper, place the dough inside of it and press it down to the bottom and sides of the ring, try to keep the dough even width around the sides of the tart ring. Cut off any excess dough that sticks out over the top of the tart ring. Repeat until all 8 crusts are shaped.
• Place the shortbread crusts in the fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• After 30 minutes in the fridge, line each tart with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dry pinto beans. This will help keep the crust from expanding while it’s baking. Bake shortbread crusts on the middle rack of the oven for 25 minutes. Once they are finished baking, take them out of the oven, remove the pie weights/beans, and carefully remove the crusts from the tart rings while they are still warm. On a cooling rack, turn each tart upside down and gently push around the bottom edges of the crust until it pops out of the mold. Turn the tart crust right side up and allow it to cool.

(If you would like them more golden brown, after 25 minutes, take them out of the oven and carefully turn the molds upside down, popping the crusts out, turn them right-side up and bake for another 10 minutes.)

Mango Tart Filling

• While the shortbread crusts are cooling, peel and cut up 3 mangos, discarding the skin and the pits. Place them in a food processor with 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of ginger, and 1/8 tsp of salt. Purée until super smooth and no chunks remain. Add in 1 cup of sweetened condensed milk and blend until combined. Pour this mixture into another mixing bowl, preferably one with a pour spout.
• In a small microwave-proof bowl, measure out 1/4 cup of cold lime juice. Stir in 1 packet of unflavored gelatin. Once it’s mixed into the lime juice, place the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds. Take it out of the microwave, stir it again and then add all of the lime juice/gelatin into the mango purée and stir to combine them thoroughly.
• Place the cooled crusts back on the baking sheet. Fill each one to the top with the mango tart filling. Place the tarts back in the fridge to cool for at least two hours.

Coconut Meringue

• Towards the end of the tarts chill time, in your Kitchenaid mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, add in the three, room temperature egg whites from earlier, and 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar. Whip on medium speed until frothy.
• Turn the mixer to high and slowly add the sugar. Once all the sugar has been added, add in the 1/8 tsp of coconut extract. Continue to whip on high until stiff peaks form. When you lift the whisk from the meringue it should create a triangle that stands up.
• Spoon the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a star tip.

To Finish

• Take the chilled mango tarts out of the fridge and pipe meringue stars all over the tops of each one.
• Use your kitchen blowtorch to toast the tops of the meringue. Alternatively, move the top oven rack up and set your oven to broil. After piping the meringue, place the baking sheet back in the oven to quickly toast the meringue. Keep an eye on it, they will go quick!
• Serve immediately and enjoy!

Notes

Once the meringue has been piped, these will last in the fridge for up to 3 days, although they are best served right away.

If you need them to last longer, keep them covered and refrigerated for up to a week without the meringue, and finish them with the meringue just before serving.

These tarts can be filled and then frozen wrapped up individually in plastic wrap and then placed in a freezer bag for up to a month. Allow to thaw and then finish with meringue when you’re ready to enjoy them!

(You may have leftover mango filling after filling the tarts. This can also be frozen and used for something else at another time.)

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