Bite-size Key Lime Pies

Today I bestow upon you, my handful of devoted readers (and the remainder of you whom I have guilt-tripped into reading this blog), the cutest thing I have ever made, nay, quite possibly, the cutest thing ever. Ok, ok, these pies aren't the cutest thing ever because the creatures have already claimed that title. C'mon:



Sometimes they do things that are so cute it
actually makes me hate them just a little bit.

These pies are pretty darn adorable nonetheless. When I took them to a BBQ, they were met with many "squees" and "oh.my.gods!" And when I brought some to work, I learned an important life lesson - the road to workplace popularity is paved with bite-size pies.

This is my go-to key lime pie recipe baked in mini muffin tins that I lined with homemade graham cracker crust. Gather 5 limes (as previously noted, it's not necessary to deal with the hassle of using key limes), graham cracker crumbs, unsalted butter, sugar, eggs, and sweetened condensed milk. The recipe below makes two dozen lil pies.

As usual, I doubled the recipe, so this picture contains more ingredients than you will need. You'll only need 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 5 limes, one stick of butter and 3 eggs.

Measure 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs (you can buy the crumbs or use a food processor to crush the crackers into a fine powder).  In a small bowl, mix 1/3 of a cup of white sugar with the crumbs.  Then pour 6 tablespoons of melted butter over the crumbs and mix with a fork until all the crumbs are wet. 

Line a mini muffin dish with paper liners, or brush them with butter.  The paper liners were easier for cleanup, plus they gave the crust a nice zigzag edge. Using a rounded teaspoon, spoon about 1 1/2 teaspoons of the crumb mixture into the cups. Roll the rounded bottom of the teaspoon around the bottom of each cup, pressing the crumbs up along the edge and packing the crumbs together as you turn the spoon. It is much easier to use a round object to form the crust than to use your fingers. I imagine pressing a shot glass into each cup may also work, if it is the right size, but I didn't have a shot glass to test this theory.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees as you finish forming the teensy crusts. Bake for 4 minutes (not 5 minutes, not 3 minutes...trust me, I tested both out. After 5 minutes, the crust becomes too dark, but after only 3 minutes, the crust does not stay together. It's science...).

While these are baking and cooling, zest 5 limes, cut them in half and juice them until you have 2 teaspoons of zest and 1/2 a cup of lime juice. Make sure to get all the delicious pulp into the juice because it adds a lot of flavor.

Mix the lime zest and juice with one 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk.

Then add three egg yolks and mix until it is blended thoroughly.

Next, spoon about 1 tablespoon of the filling into each cup until the filling reaches the edge of the graham cracker crust. The filling doesn't puff up, so it is fine to fill them all the way.

Reduce the oven's temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 10 minutes.  Let them cool, then refrigerate overnight. The next day, remove the paper liners (because you don't want anyone mistaking these for cupcakes, god forbid!). Then place them in a box lined with hot pink gingham tissue paper because OHMYGODTHESEARESOCUTE!

Seriously. 

Finally, make whipped cream. Using the Kitchenaid stand mixer that was totally worth all the money you spent, whip 1 cup of heavy cream on a high speed until it is thick. As it mixes, add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla.

I put whipped cream on 2/3 of the pies and left 1/3 without. Surprisingly, the whipped-cream-free pies were pretty popular (but not as popular as the pies with whipped cream, because that would be insane).

I tried meringue on a few, but it didn't turn out quite right. The meringue didn't adhere to the filling, so it fell off after they baked. They looked nice before I put them in the oven, though:

I was really on a roll with my tiny pies and itty-bitty meringues, so I even attempted to make candied lime zest as a garnish. There I was, saying to myself "eat your heart out, Martha," when I tasted one of these and realized (bitterly) that I had better stick with the things I am good at.  So candy is out. Even if the zest hadn't tasted horrible, it wouldn't have been worth the effort I put forth just to make a garnish.

Key Lime Pie - makes 24 

Crust: 

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs 

1/3 cup of white sugar 

6 tablespoons melted butter 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix crumbs and sugar, then pour in melted butter, stirring as you pour. Press the crumb mixture into lined or buttered mini muffin tins, using the method described above. Bake for 4 minutes. 

Filling:

One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

3 egg yolks 

1/2 cup fresh lime juice 
2 teaspoons lime zest

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake pies on middle rack for 10 minutes. Remove, let cool and refrigerate overnight (or at least 3 hours).

Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix heavy cream on medium-high heat, adding sugar and vanilla as it mixes until the whipped cream thick. Pipe onto the chilled pies before serving.

Banana Cream Pie

This is my I'm-about-to-start-a-new-job banana cream pie. I also made this to allay my post-vacation depression. And because I have the new iPod, which happily contains a Bananarama record (really, how could I resist?). "Cruel Summer" perfectly captures my mood at the moment because it is so miserably hot here and I'm sadly missing someone far away. And did I mention Bananarama is super British? 

I'm not sure why I always double recipes - I don't need one pie, let alone two. However, this week, having an extra pie in my refrigerator was fortuitous (who has made-from-scratch pies just lying around with no one to eat them? Seriously.) I gave it to the x-ray techs who gave me a free x-ray on my foot, which I suspected I broke hiking in Scotland. Turns out it's just a stress fracture, and I'm a giant wuss. Whoops. Pie in exchange for the pointless use of medical resources seems like a fair trade, right? I think they got the better end of the deal because this pie was delicious.  

I bought two different pie crusts, but only got to try the graham cracker.

First, I separated ten eggs (for 2 pies).

I really tried to keep them all intact. But I'm a failure at food blogging.

Then I whisked together in a saucepan 1 1/3 cups of sugar, 1/2 cup cornstarch, and 1/2 a teaspoon of salt, and gradually whisked in 5 cups of whole milk.  

Then vigorously whisked in 10 large egg yolks until no yellow streaks remained. And brought it to a simmer over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof rubber spatula until it got thick. This took about 40 minutes, in part because I doubled the recipe and in part because I was overly cautious about burning the custard.  

Then I removed it from the heat, scraped the sides of the saucepan, and whisked vigorously 
with my noodle arms until smooth (I count this as a workout). 

Then returned it to the heat until it simmered and whisked it for one minute. I removed it from the heat and whisked in 3 teaspoons of vanilla and 5 tablespoons of unsalted butter, cut into small pieces. There was a lot of whisking involved in the making of this pie.  

Next, I sliced six bananas into about 1/4 inch thick slices.

Then I layered 1/3 of the filling into the pie tins and artfully arranged a layer of banana slices atop it. 

And added another layer of filling and another Martha Stewart layer of banana slices.

And another…

So that 1/3 of the filling was reserved for a top layer.

Then I covered it with plastic wrap and refrigerated it overnight. (Don't worry - the plastic wrap doesn't stick.)  

The next day, I turned on some Kylie Minogue, because I just spent two weeks listening to Nick Drake and 10,000 Maniacs while staring out of train windows at the rainy coasts of Scotland. Some days you just need some throwback slutty pop.  

And I made some stabilized whipped cream, which was a first. It's just whipped cream with gelatin in it that prevents it from going flat.

I poured 2 tablespoons of cold water over 1 teaspoon of unflavored gelatin in a heat-proof glass and let it sit for 5 minutes. 

Then I placed the cup in simmering water until the gelatin melted.

Once it melted, I set it aside to cool.

Meanwhile...

I put 2 cups of heavy cream into the wonderful KitchenAid mixer and turned it on medium-high speed. And while it mixed added 4 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. As the cream began to thicken, I added the cooled gelatin.

Which actually gave the whipped cream a weird consistency visually; although, it tasted smooth.

And grated some dark chocolate over the top to make it look fancy without the additional work and fuss of piping the whipped cream on.

Banana Cream Pie (makes 1 pie - adapted from The Joy of Cooking)

1 premade graham cracker crust (or Nilla Wafer crust, which I imagine is delicious)

Filling:

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups whole milk

5 large egg yolks

2-3 tablespoons of butter, cut into small pieces

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla 

3 almost ripe bananas, sliced 1/4 inch thick

Whisk in a medium-heavy saucepan until well blended the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Gradually whisk in the milk. Vigorously whisk in the egg yolks until no yellow streaks remain. Stirring constantly with a heatproof rubber spatula, bring to a simmer over medium heat until it thickens. Remove from heat, scrape the pan, and whisk until smooth. Return to heat, whisking constantly, bring to a simmer, and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in butter and vanilla.  

Layer 1/3 of the filling into the crust, top with a layer of banana slices, top with another 1/3 of the filling, and repeat. 

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  

Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon cold water

1/2 teaspoon unflavored gelatin

Pour the cold water over the gelatin in a heatproof glass and set aside for 5 minutes. Bring water to a simmer in a saucepan and place the glass in the saucepan until the gelatin melts. Set aside to cool. Mix heavy cream on medium-high heat, adding sugar and vanilla as you go. As it thickens, add the gelatin. 

Spread the whipped cream over the pies and top with grated dark chocolate if you're so inclined.

Share & enjoy!