- Hey guys, today I'm gonna show you
a twist on a classic springtime dessert
called key lime pie.
But instead, we're gonna make little key lime pie cups.
I love this idea because they're
so elegant to serve, and so delicious.
They're also so easy to put together.
I love to serve them in these little baking cups
and spoons, because they come from this company
that I've always admired, called Simply Baked.
It's run by two fabulous women that are
so creative, and I love to support small businesses
anytime I see them doing something clever around food.
And also, they're offering a discount
to all Entertaining With Beth subscribers.
So all you have to do to get the discount
is enter the coupon code "beth" at checkout,
and the discount will be yours.
All right, you guys, lemme show you how to make
some adorable little key lime pie cups.
So, the first thing we're gonna do is take out
seven graham crackers, and put them
in a Ziploc bag.
We're gonna seal the bag, and then we're just gonna
take a rolling pin and give 'em a good whack.
This is the easiest way to create a graham cracker crust
without having to drag out the food processor.
Then we can go ahead and set our crumbs aside,
and then we're gonna get to work on making the filling.
So in a large bowl, we're going to add six egg yolks.
Now it really helps, when you're trying to separate eggs,
to make sure that those eggs are nice and cold,
because that is going to make sure that that yolk
stays nice and firm, and that's the easiest way
to separate an egg.
Then to that, we're gonna add 1/3 cup of corn starch,
or you may also know this as cornflour
in some parts of the world, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.
Go ahead and just whisk that up
until you get a nice pale yellow paste on your hands.
(happy guitar music)
And you can set that aside.
Then in a large saucepan, we're going to add
1 1/2 cups of water
and 3/4 cup of sugar plus one tablespoon.
I know that's a strange measurement,
but I've tried it once with just 3/4 cup
and it wasn't sweet enough, and I tried it once with a cup
and it was too sweet, so I think the perfect
combo is really 3/4 cup plus one tablespoon.
And you're just gonna heat your water
until that sugar dissolves.
You'll see your water will become transparent
and at that point, you're gonna take the water
and you're going to slowly pour it into your egg mixture
in a slow, steady stream, whisking all the while.
So what we wanna do is we wanna temper those eggs
so we don't wanna dump it all in at once,
and we wanna create a nice thinned out mixture.
Then we can take our egg mixture
and put it back into the pan, and then we're gonna
heat it on medium until that egg mixture
starts to cook and thicken.
So this is something you don't wanna
walk away from, you really have to stand right there
with your whisk, stirring and whisking
while this mixture cooks.
Once you get to that pudding-like consistency,
you wanna turn off the flame, and you also wanna
take your pot and move it off that hot burner,
because this pudding can cook very quickly.
And what will happen if you leave it on the burner,
it'll continue to cook because that burner is hot.
So you really wanna remove it from the hot burner.
And then you're gonna add two tablespoons of butter,
whisk that up until it's nice and silky smooth,
and then you're also gonna add 2/3 cup of lime juice.
Now, at this stage, you could use traditional key limes.
Key limes are those small little limes,
they also call them Mexican limes.
I actually have them growing in my garden,
but I have found (laughs) that trying to get
2/3 cup of lime juice out of a little lime that's
the size of a walnut takes forever.
So I actually say, use a real full-size lime,
the taste is pretty much the same
and it'll be a lot easier, no one needs to know
you didn't use a real key lime.
So you're gonna add your juice,
and then you're just gonna whisk that up.
And you'll start to see the pudding
will thin out a little bit, and thats okay,
it will actually thicken once you put it in the
refrigerator to refrigerate.
But what you wanna do at this stage,
and this is critical, you want to remove it from
your pan and transfer it to a bowl.
Because that pan is hot, and this pudding
will just continue to cook and thicken,
and if that happens, the easiest way
to thin it out is either with some more butter
or a little bit more lime juice.
Then you also wanna take some plastic wrap
and just push it down into the lime curd
so that a skin does not form, and then just
fasten it around the edges, and that'll keep it
nice and airtight.
And then you wanna go ahead and pop it in the fridge.
Now we're gonna make our whipped cream topping.
So in the bowl of an electric mixer,
we're going to add two cups of heavy cream,
two tablespoons of powdered sugar,
and one teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Go ahead and just whip that up
until stiff peaks form, and that's all you have to do.
Now you do want to take it to stiff peaks
'cause we are gonna be piping this whipped cream,
and it's a lot easier to pipe if the cream is stiff.
So don't just settle for soft peaks,
you wanna take it all the way to stiff peaks.
Then all you have to do is take your whipped cream,
transfer it to a pastry bag, fit it with your favorite tip.
I like this tip because to me, it reminds me
of the piping closely associated with key lime pie,
so it feels a little bit traditional.
But really you could use any tip ya like.
So all of this can be done the day before,
which is why I really like this dessert.
You've done all your heavy lifting
and it's all out of the way, and then all you have to do
the day of the party, or moments before
serving dessert, is assemble.
So we are gonna take out our little Simply Baked cups.
Now I'll also say, if you don't have time to get
the Simply Baked cups, you could just serve this
in a little glass, any little tumbler
or fancy cocktail glass would also work.
So we're gonna take two tablespoons
of the graham cracker crust, and put it
in the bottom of each cup.
Then we're gonna take out an ice cream scoop
and take one scoop of the lime curd
and put it in the cup, and then we're gonna
top each cup with our beautiful homemade whipped cream.
Just creating a nice little mound.
Then to garnish, we're gonna top each one
with a little bit of fresh lime zest.
And then the finishing touch is just to place
a little lime wheel on top of every cup,
and then I like to transfer these cups
to a cake stand, and then to make serving
even easier, we are gonna take these
adorable little wooden spoons
and place them inside of every cup.
I love the combination of that robin's egg blue
mixed with that lime green, it's so festive
and springlike, and makes this dessert
so much fun to eat.
You've got that delicious graham cracker crust,
mixed with the coolness of that lime curd
and the sweetness of the whipped cream,
it is springtime in every little bite.
I hope you guys give this one a try
and let me know what you think.
And I also hope that you take advantage
of the discount from Simply Baked.
You can hook yourself up with these
cute little cups and spoons that will really
just help make your party all the more festive.
All right you guys, I will see you back here
next week for another delicious recipe.
Until then, bye.
(happy guitar music)