Mini Key Lime Pies - absolutely irresistible
Key Lime Pie is delicious and so simple to make. Since coming up with this recipe, it’s become one of my favourite indulgent desserts. I love sweetness that’s got a bit of a bite to it. And I love recipes that are so simple they are pretty hard to mess up. Happily, that is just what these mini key lime pies are. Oh, and they freeze really well. So you can make a bunch and defrost when needed. If you have the self-control. Frankly, I don’t. I find these absolutely irresistible.
The biscuit-base I use for the key lime pies is my usual one made with gluten-free ginger cookies and pecans. I tried a few different brands of ginger cookies over the years, and they all work out great. You may have to adjust the amount of maple syrup or butter, but regardless of the brand it should work out fine.
The filling was inspired by these three recipes:
This recipe can be used to make 12 mini key lime pie or a 9 inch pie.
Mini Key Lime Pies
Yield: Makes 12
Suitable for: Gluten-free diet
Ingredients:
- 12 gluten free ginger cookies
- 75g butter
- ground cinnamon
- maple syrup
- salt
- 4 key limes, plus 1 for decoration (optional)
- 3 eggs, using yolks only
- 1 can (397g) condensed milk
- 200ml double cream
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
Instructions:
Make & bake the biscuit base
Turn the oven on to 180° C. Place the pecans in a food mixer and mix until they are all chopped. Add in the ginger cookies and mix until everything is reduced to crumbs. Melt the butter the butter in the microwave - should only take about 20 seconds. Pour the melted butter into the mixer with a ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon and mix again. If you are using unsalted butter mix in a good pinch of salt too. Taste and add in maple syrup as needed. I usually add in 1 - 2 tablespoons of maple syrup. I sometimes add in a small pinch of salt even though I use salted butter. I like the sweet-salty mix. When you’ve got it tasting just how you like it, scrape the mix into a greased cake tin and pat flat to cover the base. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Take out and allow to cool completely in the tin.For the key lime filling
Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. Zest and juice the four key limes. Pour the condensed milk, lime juice and zest, and egg yolks into a deep bowl and whisk until well blended. If you want to have a super smooth filling, strain it through a sieve. Ladle the key lime filling into each of the half-baked mini pie crusts. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes.- Take out and leave to cool for an hour before transferring to the fridge. Chill for at least 2 hours, but preferably chill overnight.
For cream topping & decoration
Whip up the double cream with the tablespoon of icing sugar. Spread the sweetened cream over the chilled mini key lime pies. Decorate with lime zest or thin slices of lime.- If freezing, chill the mini key lime pies for a further 2 hours before transferring to the freezer in a closed container.
Enjoy!
