Tuesday, August 25, 2009

TWD--Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie--With MY Twist (And You'll Never Guess What It Is)

I hummed and hawed about making this week's TWD pick-Creamiest Lime Cream Meringue Pie, chosen by Linda from Tender Crumb.  I just wasn't feeling like getting it done.  But the great program that is Tuesday's With Dorie got the best of me and on Monday I decided to just do it. 

I am happy to say that the cream came together for me easily.  I was a little worried about whisking, whisking, whisking to get the cream to thicken.  Here's a few things about the recipe--the three limes I zested produced about 2 1/2 tablespoons of zest, which seemed like a lot, so I only used about 1  1/2 tablespoons of it.  Then I juiced 6 limes and only got about 1/2 cup of juice.  I was torn about that--make another trip to the store, use some lime concentrate or just call it good with the 1/2 cup.  I went with the latter and just used 1/2 cup of lime juice.  I'm glad I did, it was PLENTY lime-y!  I did use the fresh ginger and got a good teaspoon/teaspoon and a half from grating about one inch of ginger.   And then there's the case of the butter.  Whoa--a lot of butter.  I'd read on the P&Q's that some were using less butter still with success.  But I didn't know how much less.  So I took a chance and went ahead and only used 1 stick (instead of 2 1/2!) of butter.   Some "complained" about how long it took the cream to come to temperature and thicken over the double boiler.  Mine took 9-10 minutes (just as Dorie said it should) and I was very happy about that.  My arms were killing me so I'm very glad it didn't take longer!

See--creamy--this is after it had been in the fridge for about two hours.

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I tasted it and realized (again, I've realized it before) that I just don't LOVE eggy type custards/creams.  And this tasted eggy to me--and very lime-y.  It was at this point that I decided to take a stand for myself (kidding!).  But I decided at that point to not make a lime cream meringue pie.  I also knew that the boys probably wouldn't like the pie and Kevin would probably just eat a courtesy piece--he just doesn't love eating really sweet things.  (I know, I know--how in the world did we get together? ;) 

Anyway, I did what only I could/would do--I made lime ice cream!  I took the lime cream and added 1 cup of half and half and 1 cup of whole milk, whisked it all together and poured it into my beloved ice cream maker.  While it was churning, I drizzled in 4 tablespoons of honey.  It just seemed like a good thing to do--honey, lime, ginger ice cream. 

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I scream.  It's pretty darn good.  Still, a little too eggy for my liking, but definitely edible.

Back when I was planning to make the pie (okay, moments before I churned), I WAS planning to make a graham cracker crust for the pie.  So I felt it only right to make graham cracker ice cream sandwiches.

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And THIS was really good.  The cracker helped cut some of the extreme tartness of the lime.

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So I made some for the boys, too.

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And just for fun, I wanted to see what it would be like to make a quick graham cracker crust using some graham cereal I have.  So I made just enough to put into two ramekins.  Baked it off briefly, cooled it and filled them with the lime ice cream.  Then I turned it out of the ramekin like a flan.  While it tasted great, the graham cereal was quite crumbly.

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I will say this.  I think I've overcome any fear I had for making custard/cream on the stove.  But by skipping the meringue pie, someday I'll still need to get with it and learn the art of making meringue (again, it just turned in to a good excuse not to make it since I don't really care for the eggy taste and airy texture of it.  When I was going to make the graham cracker crust pie, I'd planned to put some whipped cream on each serving instead of the meringue.  Someday I'll do it though.  And thanks, Linda at Tender Crumb for picking a fun, new, challenging recipe.  You can get the recipe on Linda's blog and go check out the other TWD baker's pie creations on the TWD link above.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think that looks like the perfect way to deal with it!! It looks original, refreshing and tasty!

vibi said...

Nice save!

I'm surprised though, that no one over at your place would not have liked it, it was a very big hit at ours!

Rachael Hutchings said...

Looks DELISH! (Oh, and I just have to say your children are so cute! And, I remember if I mentioned on the Food Bloggers Discussion group or not, but I'm LDS too!)

Hindy said...

I love it! Lime ice cream - great idea. You don't say whether you used the ginger. It really bumped up the spicy flavour.

CookiePie said...

What a fantastic, creative idea!!! I'm with you on the eggy custards -- but I bet the ice cream was so yummy!!

jkery07 said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Megan said...

Only you would turn lime cream into ice cream.

I bow at your feet.............

Anne said...

Yum- that sounds amazing! I'm with you on the meringue... just not my thing. I'll take any kind of ice cream, though! :)

Soy*Baby said...

Mmmmm...lime, ginger, and honey ice cream. That sounds so good and refreshing. Much better than pie.

Anonymous said...

YUM! I like the graham cracker sandwiches.

Anonymous said...

Perfect solution!

Anonymous said...

I have the same sensitivity to overly eggy custards, so I completely understand. Great idea to make some ice cream!

Anonymous said...

I loved the pie so I bet it was fabulous as ice cream. Way to make the recipe fit your family!

Amanda said...

man you are so adventurous Katrina! I love that you made ice cream, so so smart :) Your boys sure are lucky to have a great mommy like you :)

isa said...

Wow! Sounds absolutely delicious!
You are very creative!

Anonymous said...

The ice cream version sounds great! It's better to make it into something that you'll enjoy. I'm not a fan of the soft meringue on top of a pie either.

Bunny said...

I love what you did with the custard!! I bet that ice cream was so good!

Flourchild said...

What kind of camera do you have? Your pictures are so clear! I love your idea...great sprinkles too!

Teanna said...

You've totally won me over - I LOVE your take on the lime meringue pie! You've got me wanting to make this again and turn it into ice cream!

Leslie said...

I never dreamed of making ice cream out of this but it's a great idea! I love your ice cream sammies!

mike said...

Now THERE'S creativity for you! Love it! Who would think ice cream maker? :) Looks like you had a blast with this - which is the most important!!! NIcely done!

Donna-FFW said...

I love love what you did with this. Perfect dessert for kids and adults alike. The sandwiches look fantastic.

spike. said...

The whole time I was making it, I was thinking about ice cream! love that you made it

Linda said...

I love your improvisation on the pie. Ice cream sammies are a weakness of mine, and this looks terrific!

Thanks for baking along with me this week!

TeaLady said...

Looks like it made a perfect ice cream. Love the sandwiches and the upside down 'tart'.

Leslie said...

"eat a courtesy piece" that is too funny!!!
I never in a million years would have thought to make ice cream from the beginings of a pie!
SMART...very smart indeed

Flourchild said...

Thank you for the tidbit on Picasa..Im going to check it out! Things are getting dry in my basement but not back to normal yet. At least there is no rain in the forecast! Are you baking today?

Kayte said...

I didn't think my boys would go for this either, so I made a half-size pie (7" pan) and wouldn't you know, they ate the whole thing in one sitting and wanted more. That will teach me to mini-size things.

Your ice cream deal looks fantastic, and all those sprinkles, etc. just make it all one big party! Great ideas.

Anonymous said...

I'm always so hungry after reading your blog.....

Unknown said...

Hahaha only YOU could turn a lime meringue pie into ice cream!! You are really going wild with the ice cream maker! I love seeing what new flavors you come up with!!

The Food Librarian said...

I love the way you twisted this! What a fantastic idea...and it looks totally yummy!

Sihan said...

that ice cream move is brilliant! now i'm thinking of what to do with my leftover lime cream as well.