NuJoi's Kitchen Diary: Baby Heaven

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Baby Heaven

Given my quest to lose weight and my gigantic sweet tooth (we've discussed this before), I have to make mini versions of my desserts. I decided to try my first-ever key lime pie.

I used a mini cheesecake/tartlet pan from Williams-Sonoma. The removable bottoms really make getting the baby pies out of the pan a breeze.

This has to be the world's easiest pie. Once again, the folks at Cook's Illustrated didn't let me down. After reviewing multiple recipes, I chose theirs because they promised cooking the filling would provide amazing texture and increase flavor. I was sold.

Here we go. This is very simple recipe, but it allows me to use some great tools gadgets and we all know I love a good gadget.

Start with the filling because it needs to sit aside to thicken. Whisk the egg yolks and zest until the mixture turns light green. I didn't quite get there. New gadget alert: Microplane Citrus Tool! Available at Williams-Sonoma. Beat in the sweetened condensed lemon juice and then the lime juice. Let this sit while you work on the crust.

Break out your version of Miracle and pulverize your graham crackers.
Toss in the sugar and spin them again. Add the butter and spin them once more.

Although my pan was nonstick, I still gave it a spritz with a nonstick cooking spray. Next I spooned the crust into each cup.

Next I used a tart tamper to form the baby crusts. We're up to six gadgets so far (Microplane, citrus press, French whisk, food processor, mini cheesecake pan and tart tamper)!

Here's where I goofed. I baked the crusts for the recommended 15 minutes. I should've done 10 minutes. I didn't take into account my crusts were smaller and the dark finish of the pan. They were still quite edible.

Allow the crusts to cool completely. Now grab an ice cream scoop and add the filling to the crusts. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Pop them out and refrigerate for at least three hours. Aren't they cute??!