Q: I'm seeking a dessert recipe from Bacchanalia. The menu item was an incredible Key lime dessert. It is better than any Key lime dessert sampled in Key West, Fla.

-- Carlos Arosemena, Atlanta

A: Bacchanalia chef/owner Anne Quatrano, was happy to provide the recipe and adapt it for a home kitchen. This recipe makes you appreciate all the work done in a restaurant kitchen.

The restaurant makes the tart in a shallow ring, but Quatrano says it can also be made in a pie pan. Quatrano makes her ginger snap crust from scratch but says packaged cookies can be substituted to save on prep and cooking time.

The ginger snap recipe makes enough for about four crusts. You can bake it all at once and process it all for crumbs (keep excess crumbs frozen for later use), you can bake some for the crust and use the rest for cookies or you can freeze the unused dough for later use.

Quatrano tops the soft custardlike filling with a fluffy meringue. To keep its texture, she adds it right before serving and uses a hand-held torch to lightly brown it. Because the tart uses uncooked eggs, pasteurized eggs are recommended for food safety. A heavy-duty stand mixer is recommended for easier beating.

-- Jeanne Besser, for the Journal-Constitution

DESSERT

Key Lime Tart

Jean Shifrin/AJC

Makes 12 servings

Preparation time: 1 hour and 20 minutes, plus 7 hours or more refrigeration

Cooking time: 30 minutes

For the ginger snaps:

3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons ground ginger

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 egg

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest

4 tablespoons butter, melted

For the filling:

6 egg yolks

2 cans sweetened condensed milk

1 cup Key lime juice

Zest of 2 Key limes

For the meringue:

6 egg whites

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 cup granulated sugar

To prepare the ginger snaps: In a bowl, combine flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, baking powder, pepper and cloves. Set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat brown sugar and 1 1/2 cups butter until smooth. Add egg, fresh ginger and lemon zest and beat until combined. Gradually add dry ingredients, beating until well-combined. Turn out dough into plastic wrap and press into a thin disc. Refrigerate for 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Roll about 1/3 of the dough until about 1/4-inch thick. Cut dough into 2-by-2-inch cookies. Place cookies on parchment paper-lined baking sheets and bake for about 8 minutes, rotating once, until slightly brown. The cookies should be slightly overcooked for crispness. Set aside to cool on a rack. When cookies are completely cooled, process them in a food processor until finely ground.

Combine 2 1/4 cups cookie crumbs and melted butter. Press evenly into a 9-inch pie pan, going all the way up the sides. Set aside.

To prepare the filling: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. With an electric mixer on high speed, beat egg yolks until pale and thickened, about 10 or more minutes. The yolks should fall like a ribbon from the beaters, and when dripped, should leave an impression for a few seconds before being absorbed. Add sweetened condensed milk and beat well to combine. On low speed, add juice and zest. Fill pie pan with filling just to the top of the crust. Bake for 20 minutes. Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.

Right before serving, prepare meringue: On medium speed, beat egg whites until frothy. Add cream of tartar. Increase speed to high and slowly add sugar. Continue beating until whites are thick, glossy and fluffy. They will be fairly stiff. Mound meringue on the pie. Using a hand-held torch, lightly brown meringue. Serve immediately.

Per serving: 401 calories (percent of calories from fat, 33), 8 grams protein, 61 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 15 grams fat, 148 milligrams cholesterol, 117 milligrams sodium.

Is there a restaurant recipe you'd like to make at home? Tell us what you're looking for and perhaps we can help you get it. If we succeed, we'll have the recipe tested and adapted for the home kitchen, if necessary. Because of volume, we can't answer all inquiries. Send your request, along with address and phone number, to: Mail: Betty Parham, Food Department, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 72 Marietta St. N.W., Atlanta, GA 30303. E-mail: menu@ajc.com. Fax: 404-526-5509.