Flourless zucchini brownies

I have not made flourless brownies with a secret ingredient in them since the great U2 incident of September 2009. Loved the show, hated the traffic. Ate almost the entire pan of brownies with a friend while waiting to get out of the parking lot. I liked them, but the thought of them still stresses me out. I may still have PTSD from that four hour ride (that shouldn't have taken longer than 50 minutes), but I digress. It is time for a new "secret ingredient" brownie.

I saw this recipe posted on a friend's facebook page this past week. I figured, why not-we have insane amounts of zucchini from our CSA haul last week, and I had just about every other ingredient in the house just waiting to be used. Plus-and this is a bonus-it looked pretty easy. Aside from grating the zucchini, of course, and even that wasn't all that bad. *Almost* a one bowl dish (I used a grater and a plate to hold the zucchini, so I can't really call it a one bowl brownie recipe. Technically.). I was in a baking mood this weekend and wanted to try something new.

As I made these, Adam came downstairs, lured by the smells coming from the oven. Unfortunately (well, fortunately for me), once he discovered that it was chocolate baking, he didn't feel the need to taste test. See, the good thing for me is that Adam doesn't care much for chocolate, so I get to eat all of it in the house. The bad thing for me is that Adam doesn't care much for chocolate, so I have to eat all of it in the house. Normally I wouldn't complain, but I can't justify eating a whole pan of brownies by myself. So I did the next best thing, and I brought them to work.

I'll admit that I was a little bit embarrassed when mention of the brownies made it into today's staff meeting (but welcome to you guys if you're reading this!). I was excited that they were such a hit, though. I loved them too-soft, chocolate-y, a little nutty hint (kind of like a chocolate peanut butter). It uses my new favorite, almond butter, and the only bad thing about that is that I'm now out of it and have to head back to Trader Joe's for more (I enjoy my almond butter and raspberry jam sandwiches on Fridays, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.). These brownies were sweet, but not sickly sweet. Soft and gooey, but not so gooey that they couldn't be eaten without falling apart (unless you ate two straight out of the oven like I did). You can hardly tell that there's zucchini in it, and these brownies work for those who want to eat better but want to pretend they're cheating. They're gluten-free, even (if that's your thing. If it's not, you really don't miss it here anyway). How could you go wrong?

I'll tell you how. When the pan is empty.


 Flourless Zucchini Brownies (recipe obtained from delightedmomma.com)

1 c. almond butter (I love Trader Joe's raw almond butter, and they're not as expensive as some other brands. Sometimes you can luck out at Market Basket too)
1.5 c. shredded zucchini (about 1-2 zucchini)
1/3 c. honey
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 12 oz. bag of dark chocolate chips (the original recipe calls for just one cup. I like my brownies extra chocolate-y!)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place all ingredients into a medium bowl and mix well. Line your 8x8 baking pan with foil or parchment paper, then put baking spray over it to prevent sticking. Pour batter into pan and make sure it is evenly spread out. Bake brownies for about 40 minutes (some ovens might need about five minutes more or less). When a knife inserted into the center comes back clean, they're ready!

Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies

Like the majority of the northeast, we were homebound yesterday in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Though we were very largely spared, it was a pretty decent storm with a ton of wind and rain. Luckily, unlike some people like some of my coworkers and my sister, our power never went out (even though I was discouraged from saying so out loud yesterday for fear that we would be jinxed) so even though we had plenty of bottled water, canned goods, and snacks at the ready, I decided to cook and bake instead. And I ate the snacks alongside it and replaced the bottled water with wine. You know, no big whoop.

I saw this recipe weeks ago and was ever so ready to make it. The problem lay in that I knew it had a bunch of steps and every time I went to go make them, I'd get distracted. Yesterday, I was ready. I wasn't going anywhere all day and figured I might as well make good use of both my time and my electricity. I really thought this would take awhile to do-but in reality it was maybe a half hour of prep time with a lot of time in the fridge to set. And the end result? Oh, that end result. A gooey, chocolate-y warm cookie. Dare I say these were better than my regular chocolate chip cookies? The ones that are the size of dinner plates? Yes.

This cookie has three different kinds of chocolate chips in it. Three. It has nutella stuffed in the middle of it. Nutella, people. Do you see where this is going? Eat it upon removing from the oven. Pure. Bliss. This is the kind of thing you'll want to have on Halloween because you want something better than the Peanut Butter Cups you're handing out (though I'm not totally sure on that. Let's call it a draw. But you see where I'm going.). Even better, make the dough, roll it out, then freeze it. You can make the cookies one or two or six at a time and not worry about them getting stale. Because, you know, you'll have inhaled them in an hour.

Get to work, people. These cookies won't stuff themselves, and you need some dessert tonight. Ready, GO!

Nutella Stuffed Brown Butter Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe obtained from Ambitious Kitchen)

Ingredients
2 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
2 sticks (1 C) unsalted butter
1 1/4 c. brown sugar, packed
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 large egg and 1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. plain greek yogurt
3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c. milk chocolate chips
1/2 c. dark chocolate chips
1 jar of Nutella, chilled
Coarse sea salt for sprinkling

Mix together the dry ingredients into a bowl and set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. The butter will begin to foam. Whisk the butter frequently and make sure to watch as it cooks. The butter will change from foamy to a darker, tan color, and then it will take on a nutty aroma. Make sure you take the butter off the burner immediately at this time-it can burn very quickly past this point. Set the butter aside to cool slightly.

Mix the butter and sugars together with an electric mixer. In the meantime, combine the egg, yolk, vanilla, and yogurt in a separate bowl and whisk together until blended. Add the egg/yogurt mixture to the butter/sugar mixer and make sure they are fully combined. Add the dry ingredients slowly and beat on low-speed just until combined. Gently fold in all of the chocolate chips with a spatula.

Let the dough rest and come together for two hours in the refrigerator to cool. Also chill your nutella at this time.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once dough is chilled measure out dough into the size of walnuts (about a tablespoon and a half) and roll into balls. Flatten the dough ball very thinly into the palm of your hand. Place a small amount (1/2 to 1 teaspoon) of chilled nutella in the middle and fold dough around it; then roll back into it's walnut-sized shape, making sure that the nutella is completely encased by the dough.

Bake the cookies 9-11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies begin to turn golden brown. They will look a bit underdone in the middle, but will continue to cook once out of the oven. Cool the cookies on the sheets at least 2 minutes. Sprinkle with a little sea salt. Try not to burn the roof of your mouth while you shovel them all into your belly in one sitting. 

Cranberry Apple Butter

Fall is in the air. I'm not sure whether to be excited (because I can wear thick, warm sweaters and build a fire turn on the switch in our fireplace) or sad (because I love the sunshine, warm weather, and eating outside). I'm going to call that a draw.

This recipe, however, is a solid win (really, with the cliches?).

As always with our CSA, we get a ton of fruit or vegetables several weeks running. We have received apples for three weeks now. Three! I like to put apples in things, but I don't eat them as a snack, standalone. I'm not sure why, because I love things like pears, but there you have it. Apples are never my first choice in a fruit to just munch on. I knew that I had to put these apples in something to make me feel like they weren't wasted. Bread was fine, but I had made a banana bread a few weeks earlier and currently have a whole host of these, these, and these sitting in my fridge right now. I wasn't really interested in any more bread products (after all, I'm not really needing to carb-load these days, despite my baking that says otherwise!).

On Friday, I had to run to the store because we ran out of a few key items (you know, like milk wine) and while I was there I noticed that cranberries had arrived back in the produce section. Not craisins, but real, honest-to-goodness cranberries. All of a sudden, it hit me. I wanted to make cranberry apple butter.

A few years ago, when I was creating my annual Christmas goodie bag of baked goods for friends, I came across this recipe. I thought it looked pretty easy, and different, for that matter, and decided to give it a whirl. Though I only made one batch, I remember eating that stuff on almost anything-bread, muffins, a spoon-and was pretty sad when it was gone. This weekend, I went off in search of that recipe, and except for the fact that the recipe called for Granny Smith apples (which weren't in the CSA!) I realized I had everything else I'd need to do this. Just like that, it made it's way on my to-make list for sometime this weekend (yes, I make a to-make list of dishes and baked goods for the week that I try to do over the weekend. Don't judge).

On Sunday I felt a little chill in the air and got to work. I threw everything in a pot besides the apples, peeled and cored the apples (and tried not to nick my fingers in the process), and let it cook down for hours. Later, I pureed it using my hand blender, and voila! cranberry apple butter!

Massive amounts of cranberry apple butter. Anyone hungry?

I am pretty sure I'll still be eating this by the spring with the amount I have, but you're welcome to take some of it off my hands. That is, if you can pry it from my fingers first. It kind of gives my taste buds a little bit of pucker after giving it a nice small sweet sugar rush. It's not like most sweet spreads I've had (and to be honest, I'll usually only use raspberry jam anyway). I think it'd be especially perfect with a nice hot, buttery popover. Not that I have any fresh popovers in my kitchen...

...yet.

Cranberry apple butter (recipe adapted slightly from From the kitchen of the 13)

2 c brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
1 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cloves
1 c. orange juice
2 c. fresh or frozen cranberries
10 apples of your choice (I used a combination of Macoun, McIntosh, and Cortlands, but the original recipe calls for Granny Smith), peeled, cored, and chopped into large chunks

*Add all ingredients except the apples to a large pot. Cook over medium heat and stir occasionally until the cranberries begin to pop.
* Add apples, turn the heat to medium-low to low and cook until apples get very soft and fall apart. Make sure you stir the mixture frequently to get everything combined together.
*Put the mixture carefully into a blender (let it cool a bit so it doesn't explode in the blender!) or use a hand blender or a potato masher until the mixture is thick and, for the most part, smooth (I always like a couple of chunks of apple or cranberry!). Spread on anything of choice, but hot, fresh bread or popovers never seem to hurt!

Lavender cupcakes with lemon curd filling

For a very long time, I have wanted to use culinary lavender. I saw a recipe months ago that used lavender in brownies and it just looked so fascinating. I was ready to make that recipe and...I couldn't find lavender in grocery stores anywhere. I checked Stop and Shop, Market Basket (who are we kidding? I doubt very much that I would have found lavender in their spice aisle. But I digress), Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, nothing. A search on Amazon found me lavender at close to $10, not including shipping and handling, which would have brought it closer to $20. I didn't need it that much.

At Christmas time I got a great gift certificate to Williams-Sonoma. I went off a few weeks ago to finally cash it in (when I would just look at the website online I found I wanted EVERYTHING, so going to the store in person just seemed like it might be better). I found a few fun toys that I didn't have in my repertoire of kitchen items, but as I was rounding an aisle I saw it: culinary lavender. For just a bit over $5. Done.





Okay, so now that I have culinary lavender in my kitchen, the question became, "what to do with it?" I could make those brownies, but then I'd still have nearly an entire jar left. Options! I needed options!

...and then we had our friends over for dinner this past weekend. I knew I wanted to make something with lavender in it for them. My friend Mia loves things that have lemon in it (remember this?), so I thought, "maybe I could do a lavender dessert, with a lemon hint in it!" A google search turned up lemon filled lavender cupcakes. Off I went.

Lavender is the weirdest thing to cook with. When I parceled it out into the bowl to use, I swear it smelled like the soap in my bathroom. Or a candle we have downstairs. It did not smell like something I was supposed to put in food. I went ahead anyway, hoping it might all turn out in the end.

The cupcakes were surprisingly easy to make, and really didn't smell overpoweringly of lavender when I was done. I had a feeling the lemon curd was supposed to be in the cupcake to help it keep soft and moist. I made that too, but next time I think I'll buy it premade. I'm always afraid of scrambling eggs when I do things like lemon curd, and I really think I did that with some of them. The curd tasted okay, but some of the egg kept getting stuck in the pastry tip I used to fill the cupcakes. If you're not afraid, go ahead and make your own, but if you hesitate, I'm sure jarred curd would work just fine. I used a different frosting than the one in the recipe only because I couldn't find lavender honey, and when I was ready to go ahead and make it myself, the recipe said I had to let the mixture sit for a week. Having only one day, I nixed it and went with a lavender buttercream I found on another site. No food coloring (mostly because I had no blue coloring to mix with the red I had to make purple) for the frosting, but no problems there.



The cake itself was kind of dry, but it was very mild with the lavender taste. If it weren't so crumbly, I might have had more! The curd (when I found it in my cupcake) was tasty, and helped to make the cake not stick so much to the roof of your mouth. The frosting was tasty but different, a buttercream that had lavender-infused milk in it. I'd definitely try it again though. They were unlike anything I've ever tasted before. It tasted like spring, and after the crappy weather we've had for the past few days, I needed it.




Lemon Filled Lavender Cupcakes (recipe from Yummymummykitchen.com)
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. dried lavender
1/2 c. softened butter
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp. milk

Put the sugar and lavender flowers in a food processor. Pulse briefly to combine (a blender works too, and depending on the size of your processor bowl, you may want to do that instead to avoid large flowers in your cupcake).
Combine the lavender sugar and butter in a medium sized bowl and beat together until pale and fluffy, for a few minutes.
Beat the eggs into the butter mixture, one at a time, then mix in the dry ingredients and fold gently. Stir in the milk, then spoon the mixture into a prepared muffin tin (with liners or greased. I prefer liners).
Bake for about 18 minutes until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

When the cupcakes are cooled, take your lemon curd (either homemade or store-bought) and put it in a pastry bag filled with a small tip. Insert the tip into the top of the cupcake and fill it with lemon curd (be careful not to split the sides!). If you don't have a pastry bag (or a tip, and you don't want to use a plastic bag), you can pare out a portion of the top and fill it in with a spoon. If you use a pastry tip and bag, you can keep your cupcake intact! :)

Lavender Buttercream Frosting (recipe from Penguin in the Kitchen)
14 Tbsp. butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 c. whole milk
1 tsp lavender
Purple food coloring (or red and blue to make your own) (optional)

Combine the milk and the lavender in a small pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat.
Cover the pan and let it sit at room temperature (take it off the stovetop!) for 15 minutes to help the lavender infuse in the milk. Then transfer it to the fridge for a half hour to cool down completely.
Beat butter and sugar together with a hand-held or electric mixer until well combined and creamy.
Add half of the lavender milk and purple food coloring (if using) and continue to mix well. Use your own taste on this: after adding in half, make sure it's not too strong. I actually found it too weak at this stage and decided to add the rest of the milk in. I also thought there wasn't enough sugar for me (I like my buttercreams a little bit thicker) so I added about another half cup. Feel free to add more or less to your taste.
Spread frosting on cooled cupcakes, or, if you're feeling particularly sassy, use a piping bag with tip to make them all fancy-like!

Lemon Squares

I am currently watching an episode of "The Best Thing I Ever Ate: Snack Attack" on the Food Network. It is reminding me of this very post that I've had in my head for about a week. I remember Lemon Squares being more of a go-to dessert for me rather than a snack, but seeing how Adam and I have been doing a lot of snacking with this particular item this week, it seems only fair that I share it with all of you.

I love lemon squares. As a kid, there were several dishes my mom made that stood out as favorites. Lemon squares were one of them-this is interesting for me because otherwise, lemons really weren't a huge draw. I don't care much for any sort of lemon pie, and lemon cake, while tasty, is something I never crave. I don't even like lemon in my water, and have to be in a mood for lemonade. But these lemon squares...oh, I could always be in a mood for lemon squares. It's quite possibly the only dessert I liked my mom to make as much as this one. Even now, my mouth waters just to think about it. The middle was slightly gooey and the crust nice and crisp, with some powdered sugar on top to take away a bit of the tartness from the lemon. They were just awesome, plain and simple.

I have no idea where she got the recipe. Even now, with all of the recipes she had in a drawer in our kitchen, I can't figure out where it came from because it's not in there. I've tried other recipes in the past and they didn't quite compare. Sometimes the bar was just too crunchy and dry, and other times it just didn't taste right.

This past weekend, I knew I had a lot of lemons in the drawer that needed to be used, so I hunted for a recipe that I thought might work. After perusing the internet, I found a recipe by Ina Garten that seemed to be okay, and got a lot of good reviews.






Kids, I've found the lemon square from my childhood. It was exactly right, even if it wasn't prepared the way I remember it. It was gooey (admittedly, I think I underbaked it a little), the crust was like a butter cookie-but not too crunchy, and the filling was a perfect blend of sweet and tart. This is a winner recipe, and definitely will go in the arsenal of good ol' standbys.

Lemon Squares (recipe obtained from Ina Garten and the Food Network)
Ingredients

For the crust:
1/2 lb. unsalted butter, at room temperature (I actually melted it instead)
1/2 c. granulated sugar
2 c. flour
1/8 tsp. salt

For the filling:
6 eggs at room temperature
3 c. sugar
2 tbsp. grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons-I found I had enough at 4 lemons, even if I planned to do 5)
1 c. lemon juice (if you don't squeeze your own, using bottled is fine, which is what I did)
1 c.flour

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

To make the crust:
Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy using either a stand mixer or a portable electric mixer. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter mixture until just blended. Place the dough in a lined pan and spread out to the edges using your hands or a spatula. Chill for about 10 minutes.

Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let it cool while you prepare the filling (but keep the oven on at 350 degrees!)

For the filling, combine together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Whisk until well blended. Pour over the cooled crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set (Note: This can depend on how hot your oven runs. I had to keep mine in for roughly 45 minutes). Let cool to room temperature.

Cut into bars and dust with confectioners' sugar. If necessary, hide them from people in your household so there's more for you. :)

"Peanutella"

If you don't know my favorite candy, you may not know me all that well.

...

...

still thinking?

I'm a gigantic sucker for the chocolate peanut butter combination, so your guess of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups is spot on.
(I'm actually eating one now.)

On Halloween, I've gone trick-or treating with my nieces and my sister since they've been old enough to go. One year, quite awhile ago, I told my nieces this little secret of my favorite candy. Ever since, every year, they'll help me in my quest for peanut butter-chocolate euphoria.

"Auntie!" They'll shout, from the lucky houses. "They had Peanut Butter Cups! I got one for you!"

At Halloween, my pockets are stuffed with peanut butter cups and a few wrappers, from those I ate while I walked. I clean up at Halloween.

Today seemed like a perfect day to make this spread: Woburn had it's official Halloween parade this afternoon, we had an unusual freak nor'easter that produced several inches of snow, and I'm procrastinating from doing paperwork at home. I'm also trying to avoid breaking into the bag of peanut butter cups I bought for trick-or-treaters tomorrow. See? Win-win.







This was one of the weirder recipes I've ever made. Put toasted peanuts in the food processor and grind until it looks like peanut butter. Weird. Add cocoa powder and powdered sugar and salt and oil and blend until it looks like a spread. Too easy. Spread it on a piece of toasted challah bread shipped to you from your favorite island bakery. So very right.





Chocolate-Peanut Spread (recipe from Smitten Kitchen)
2 c. shelled and skinned peanuts (the recipe calls for raw; all I could find were salted and roasted. Those are fine too)
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 c. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt (if you find unsalted peanuts, you may need more)
2-3 tablespoons peanut oil

Turn the oven to 400 degrees. Spread the peanuts evenly over a cookie sheet and roast for about 10 minutes, or 5 if they are already roasted.
Transfer the peanuts to a food processor (I'm fairly certain this wouldnt work with a blender, sadly, but if you try let me know how you make out) and grind them for about 5 minutes. It will first look really grainy, then it will have more of a peanut butter look. Leave it alone until it looks like peanut butter and then grind it for another minute or so, just to be sure.

Add the cocoa, sugar, salt and two tablespoons of the oil to the food processor and continue to blend together for about 1 minute.

Refrigerate until ready to use.

Berry Buttermilk Sherbet

It's now starting to be summer in New England, and summer for me equals ice cream.

There's a place about a mile down the road from us called Breakers. They serve Richardson's ice cream, and I will, without fail, order one of two things there: a black raspberry frozen yogurt with chocolate sprinkles or a chocolate peanut butter ice cream (for those who read this blog and know me very well, not to worry-my favorite ice cream ever, coffee oreo, isn't as good there as it is at JP Licks, so I don't get it.). Their sizes are gigantic-so gigantic that we typically order kiddie sizes, which in the real world are closer to mediums. It's a ton of ice cream for under $4. We love going there, especially in the summer.

A few years ago, I found a refurbished ice cream maker on Amazon for very little money. I was thrilled-I could make ice cream at home! I began making vanilla, chocolate, and yes, even coffee oreo. I made mint chip and an at-home version of Crantucket (vanilla with chocolate covered cranberries that my favorite ice cream place on Nantucket serves). I've done some sorbets and sherbets too-I made a mango sherbet for Adam's birthday this year and a mango-raspberry sorbet a few months ago. I found this recipe for a berry sherbet yesterday, and couldn't wait to try it.





The thing about this sherbet that makes it different for me is that it includes buttermilk-something that makes this dessert be a little more tangy and tart than I'm used to. It also has the option to strain the seeds or not-something I decided to do with it tonight. Though it made the sherbet more creamy, I don't know if I'll do that every time. It does take quite awhile to strain the mixture completely of seeds-I did it in roughly 25 minutes, so if you don't mind, keep it in-you'll get sherbet much faster.







This is a really good sherbet. I loved the tang, I especially loved the colors, and I loved that it was made with fresh berries. It made a really good weekend even better. If you have an ice cream maker, I'd suggest you get on this recipe right away-otherwise, come hang out with me before it disappears :)



Berry Buttermilk Sherbet (recipe obtained from Sass and Veracity)
6 oz. or 1 c. fresh raspberries
6 oz. or 1 c. fresh blackberries
6 oz. or 1 c. fresh blueberries
1/2 c. sugar (the original recipe calls for raw; I had no raw sugar so I used standard granulated sugar-I don't know that it made any difference but feel free to use whatever you'd like)
1-3/4 c. buttermilk
1 T. lime juice
1/2 tsp. cardamom (tip: cardamom is incredibly expensive-like $15 expensive. If you don't have it, substitute for 1/4 tsp. each of cinnamon and nutmeg, which is what I did)

Put all three types of berries into a blender and puree. If you decide to remove the seeds, take the berry mixture and force it through a fine mesh sieve to remove them, then add back to the blender. Add the sugar, buttermilk, lime juice, and cardamom (or cardamom substitute) to the blender and puree until smooth. Pour into the container of an electric ice cream maker and run until frozen, but soft enough to spread into a container to place in the freezer (approximately 25 minutes). Seal well in a freezer safe container and freeze for several hours before serving.

Key Lime Mousse

I have no words for this dessert. My mouth is too full of mousse right now to speak.




Key Lime Pie is one of my favorite desserts. I'm not sure where I decided it was full of awesome, but I'm sure as hell glad I did. It's so tart, yet really sweet, and I completely.love.it. There's also key lime meltaways I've made and loved, key lime cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory, and key lime ice cream made by Ben & Jerry's that Adam found for me last summer and surprised me with. Key lime and me, it's pretty much my secret favorite guilty pleasure.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to help with Passover Seder. Not ever having attended a Seder before, and really not knowing what I had to do to prepare the food, I was (understandably) a little intimidated-I wanted to make sure I was following the rules! As it turns out, Key Lime Mousse was pretty easily kosher-eggs, cream, key limes, sugar. Completely stupendous.

Mousse, in general, isn't terribly difficult. But it does have a lot of steps. Zest the fruit. Make the custard. Strain the custard. Cool the custard. Whip the cream. Fold together. Refrigerate. Y'see? Step after step after step.











It is so worth it, though. It's Key lime pie, without the crust (though I imagine some graham cracker crumbles over the top would add some nice crunch). It is unbelievable. If I had more key limes, I'd make it tonight.



Key Lime Mousse (recipe from Epicurious)

*I doubled this recipe to feed 13-the original says it will feed 4. While I'm not certain that all had a lot of the mousse, we did come home with some leftover. I highly recommend leftovers.)

1/2 tbsp grated Key lime zest
1/2 c. fresh Key lime juice
1/2 c. sugar
Pinch of salt
3 large eggs
3/4 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 c. chilled heavy cream


Whisk together zest, juice, sugar, salt, and eggs in a medium-sized pot. Add butter and cook over medium-low heat, whisking frequently, until thick enough to hold the marks of whisk, about 5 minutes or so. Gently force the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl before the eggs scramble, then quick-chill in an ice bath, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
Beat cream with an electric mixer until it holds stiff peaks, then fold into custard gently but thoroughly. Refrigerate at least 2 hours.