1. Preheat oven to 300F.

2. Brown the butter for the tart crust.

Place the butter in a skillet with a lighter bottom (not nonstick) so that you can see the color of the butter change color. Heat over medium heat, stirring at frequent intervals for 5-8 minutes until the butter froths and then becomes fragrant and turns a golden brown. Turn off the heat immediately and set it aside to cool.

3. Toast the coconut for the tart crust.

Once the oven has preheated, place the shredded coconut on a sheet pan and bake for 3-5 minutes until it is lightly toasted and a very light golden brown (see below). Check on the coconut regularly and err on the side of taking it out early because it burns easily. Once finished, take out the coconut and increase the oven temperature to 350F.

4. Begin making passionfruit curd. 

Separate eggs (make sure to save the whites if you’re making meringue) and whisk together the egg yolks. Whisk in the sweetened condensed milk until thoroughly combined. Then whisk in the passionfruit juice. Set aside for 30 minutes. The mixture will thicken during this period.

5. Make the tart dough.

The brown butter should have cooled down to close to room temperature by now. If not, pop it in the freezer for a few minutes to get it close to room temperature. Using an electric mixer or stand mixer, whip the browned butter for 2-3 minutes until it gets creamy. Slowly add the sugar to the butter mixture, beating in each addition thoroughly. Slowly add in the flour. Once combined, stop the mixer. Fold in the toasted coconut with a spatula.

6. Bake the tart crust.

Press the crust into the tart mold(s), trying to keep the crust as thin as you can (ideally 1/8 of an inch, but I often end up closer to 1/4 of an inch). Place the mold(s) onto a sheet tray before baking. The sheet tray will make it much, much easier to take the tart pan(s) in and out of the oven without damaging the tart shell. Bake for 8-12 minutes at 350F (depending on thickness of your crust). Check on the crust at 7 minutes and then in 2 minute intervals thereafter. It should be very fragrant and slightly golden (not brown) when ready. Err on the side of underbaking. Once baked, remove the tart shell and reduce the oven temperature to 325F. Let the crust cool for 5-10 minutes.

7. Bake the passionfruit tart at 325F.

Once the crust has cooled a bit but is still warm, pour the curd into the still-warm crust. Bake for about 10 minutes for tartlets, about 15 minutes for a large tart. Take the tart out of the oven once the curd has firmed up but jiggles slightly when moved. 

8. Prepare passionfruit seed topping, if using.

Place the passionfruit pulp in a saucepan and place over low-medium heat. Sprinkle the gelatin powder over the top and whisk constantly to incorporate the gelatin as the passionfruit pulp heats up, until it begins to boil. At that point, turn off the heat and set aside to cool.

Once the tart and the passionfruit seed topping have cooled so that both are room temperature, gently spoon some of the passionfruit seed topping over the top of the tart. Spread it gently over the curd using the back of a metal spoon so that you don’t damage the surface of the passionfruit curd.

9. Set the tart inside the refrigerator, uncovered, to chill for 2-3 hours.

10. Prepare Italian meringue, if using.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar using a stand mixer (I do not recommend using a hand mixer for this part because you will be working with very hot sugar syrup). Pause when the egg whites  reach soft peaks (if lifted with a spoon or whisk, the egg whites will form a peak which will slowly flop over). 

While you beat the eggs, heat the water and sugar in a saucepan and heat over high heat, stirring until the mixture boils. Continue to heat until the syrup mixture reaches 240F on a thermometer. 

Restart the stand mixer with the egg whites, mixing at a low speed, and very slowly and very carefully pour the hot syrup into the eggs. Be very careful as this heated sugar syrup is HOT and sticky!! I would definitely send any kids out of the kitchen while you do this. Once all the sugar syrup has been added to the egg whites, turn the mixer back up to high speed and beat until you reach stiff peaks (if lifted with a spoon or whisk, the mixture will form a peak which will not flop over). The hot sugar syrup will cook the eggs, so you will have a fully cooked meringue at this point. For more detailed Italian meringue instructions, this is a great article.

Place the meringue into a piping bag and decorate the tart as you like. You can decorate the tart as soon as it has reached room temperature or colder. Immediately after decorating with the meringue, I used a torch to gently torch the meringue on the tarts (this looks pretty, tastes delicious, and helps the meringue keep its shape over time). 

10. Once the tarts have finished chilling, gently bust your tart out of the tart pan by pressing up on the bottom insert one side at a time.  There is lots of butter in that crust, so sticking should not be a problem. Enjoy!