Lime Divine Tarts

Mother's Day was Sunday. I sent Jisoo a package via the agency-mail two weeks ago — a framed photo of me at three years old that Karen had digitized and sent me in one of the digital-photo-frame files, a letter in my best Korean, a small hand-thrown ceramic vase I bought in Fremont. It arrived Friday her time. Jisoo called me Saturday morning to say she had received it. She was crying. She held up the photo to the camera. Three-year-old me in a red dress with my hair in pigtails. Jisoo said, in Korean, "I did not know you as this child. Now I can look at her." She has put the photo on the small shelf she has been building for me in her apartment — the shelf where my framed kimchi-hands photo and my letters sit. A shrine of a sort. Not idolatrous. Archival. The child she did not get to know, installed in her home now, twenty-nine years later. I cried. She cried. It is how our calls go.

I drove to Bellevue on Sunday for Karen. I brought a hand-bound photo book I had made — photos from our year, including the Jisoo-FaceTime photos, the Thanksgiving photos, Easter, Karen's birthday. The book had a page dedicated to "Mom stuff" — photos of Karen teaching me to make pie, Karen at my high school graduation, Karen holding baby-me on the day they brought me home from the airport. I gave it to her. She held it like it was glass. She said, "Stephanie. I have been wanting a book like this and I did not know how to ask for it." She turned every page slowly. She cried at the page of me at three — the same photo Jisoo had just received, though this one was an alternate shot. Both mothers, looking at the same toddler, on the same day, in different countries. I cannot get over the symmetry of my life.

David had bought Karen a nice necklace. Karen liked it but did not remember, later in the day, what the occasion was. The medication has been making her memory foggy in the afternoons. We all pretended not to notice. The afternoons are what they are.

I had Kevin on the phone for a bit. He called Karen. He said, "Mom. I love you. Happy Mother's Day." Karen said, "I love you too, honey. How's Lisa?" Kevin said, "Lisa's good. She says happy Mother's Day to you." Karen said, "Tell her thank you." Kevin said, "Will do." He hung up. Karen said, "Kevin is okay." I said, "He is." Karen said, "That's a gift."

Dr. Yoon on Monday: I told her about the two Mother's Day moments. She said, "Two mothers. Two celebrations. You are no longer performing either one." I said, "I know." She said, "You are being a daughter twice. That is unusual." I said, "I know." I know.

Work: I am in the final stretch of Q1 launch. The feature is at 100% rollout. The metrics are clean. Priya is pleased. I am pleased, in the constrained way I am allowed to be pleased at Amazon. Three weeks to Busan. I am taking two weeks off. My out-of-office is drafted. I will be unreachable. I am going to put it on my calendar in red. I am going to honor it.

The recipe this week is Karen's apple pie, which I made with her on Saturday. She rolled the crust. I helped with the pin. She arranged the apples. I did the lattice. She crimped the edges. I baked it. She sliced it. The pie was exceptional. It might be the best one we have ever made together. Pie is a partnership. Pie is a thing you do with someone else. I will never make this pie alone. I will always ask for help. The help is the pie.

Karen rolled the crust. I did the lattice. She crimped; I baked; she sliced. That pie on Saturday was the whole day in miniature—two people, one thing made together, neither of us able to do it quite right alone. I keep thinking about what Dr. Yoon said: you are being a daughter twice. If that’s true, then I want a recipe that carries that same spirit—bright, a little tart, assembled in layers, and worth every careful step. Karen’s apple pie deserved a companion this week, and these Lime Divine Tarts—tangy and luminous and just formal enough to feel like a gift—are exactly that.

Prep Time: 25 minutes | Cook Time: 18 minutes | Total Time: 43 minutes | Servings: 12 tarts

Ingredients

1 package (15 oz) refrigerated pie crusts (2 crusts), or homemade equivalent
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/3 cup fresh lime juice (about 3–4 limes)
1 tablespoon lime zest
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
Thin lime slices or zest curls, for garnish

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Lightly flour a clean surface and unroll pie crusts.
Cut tart shells. Using a 4-inch round cutter (or the rim of a wide glass), cut 12 circles from the pie crust. Press each circle gently into a standard muffin tin cup, fitting the dough up the sides. Prick the bottoms a few times with a fork.
Blind bake the shells. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden. Remove from the oven and let cool completely in the tin before filling.
Make the lime curd filling. In a medium saucepan, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually whisk in the water and lime juice until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and begins to bubble, about 6–8 minutes.
Temper the eggs. Remove from heat. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, whisking quickly. Pour the tempered yolk mixture back into the saucepan and return to medium heat. Cook, stirring, for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter and lime zest until fully incorporated.
Cool the curd. Transfer the lime curd to a bowl and press plastic wrap directly on the surface. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes, until just cool enough to hold its shape when spooned.
Whip the cream. In a chilled bowl, beat heavy cream with powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Do not over-whip.
Fill and finish. Spoon the lime curd into the cooled tart shells, filling each nearly to the rim. Top each tart with a small dollop of whipped cream. Garnish with a thin lime slice or a curl of lime zest.
Chill and serve. Refrigerate assembled tarts for at least 15 minutes before serving to allow the curd to set. Serve the same day for best texture.

Nutrition (per serving)

Lime Divine Tarts — Two Mothers, One Lattice, and the Pie That Taught Me Partnership