Mini Key Lime Pies

Tags

lime, pies

Sunset is one of my favorite magazines, as it is a nice mix of recipes, travel, gardening, and decorating ideas. Several of my go-to recipes are torn from its pages, including this one. My copy is tattered and smudged with goo, but I was able to find the link on-line if you would like to try it (http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/long-beach-lime-pies-50400000107274/). I’ve made this recipe a few times, but I do so in mini-form (better for parties) and usually just use regular limes unless I happen upon Key limes. They are always a hit and is pretty easy, as far as pies go.

Is there anything better than graham cracker crust? Few things, I’d say.

Tamping the crust into the mini cupcake pan molds. Using a teaspoon works perfectly for this.

Making the filling: sweetened condensed milk, lime zest, eggs, and lime juice. Sweetened condensed milk is a strange product, but nothing beats it in a Key lime pie!

Filling the pre-baked pie shells with limey goodness.

After baking the filling and letting them cool in the refrigerator for a few hours, I use the edge of a teaspoon to gently wedge the pies out of their molds.

Finished product, with whipped cream and lime zest sprinkled on top. Although this recipe calls for sour cream for the topping, I tried this once and didn’t have much luck getting sour cream to set up properly. I also like the slight sweetness of a little whipped cream better, so I just use that.

Close-up of the mini pies – tart and sweet in perfect balance together!

Almond Biscotti

Tags

almonds

Like a lot of recipes I make, there are wonderful memories associated with this one. I bought Hawai’i’s Best Local Desserts while on my honeymoon in Kauai. While I don’t think of biscotti as a particularly Hawaiian treat, it is one of the best recipes in this cookbook, and so I return to it often. Most times I think to make my own biscotti after going to a coffee shop and seeing or tasting the types they have for sale. Sometimes I cave and buy a piece, and more often than not, am disappointed. I find most commercially-produced biscotti too cloying, not crunchy (soft biscotti?), and not very tasty. I love this recipe because it is perfectly sweet with the rich flavor of almonds and a bit of anise. It is delicious for breakfast, with tea or coffee, or with a bit of ice cream.

Ingredients and the cookbook in question all ready to go.

Toasted almonds (about 5-10 minutes at 300 degrees Fahrenheit) make this biscotti especially tasty. I alter the recipe a bit and add less anise extract and a teaspoon of almond extract.

Biscotti dough spread on the Silpat for baking. Although the dough looks very sticky, it is quite easy to manipulate and spread with your hands.

Baked, cut, and ready for another round in the oven. I always grab a few nibbles after I cut the biscotti, as it is quite crumbly and I wouldn’t want those abandoned pieces to go to waste. 🙂

Biscotti pieces cooking on the racks after the second round of toasting. Look at those beautiful almond chunks!

A serving for the chef. Yum! I skip the dipping in chocolate part of the recipe, because I feel that these are delicious enough in their simplicity.

Easter Sugar Cookies

Tags

cookies, Easter, frosting

I make these sugar cookies from good old Betty Crocker’s New Cookbook for most major holidays, changing only the cookie cutters and food coloring shades used. They are the quintessential cutout cookies – moist, buttery, and perfectly sweet. Friends and family always request them, and despite making them several times a year, they never get old.

I started using the gel food coloring from Wilton a few years ago. The colors are vibrant and you only need a small amount (think a bit on the end of a toothpick) to color entire bowls of frosting. For Easter, I chose the colors above.

Cookies ready to be frosted with the vibrant colors of Easter. I may have put more food coloring gel than usual in this time. Perhaps I was thinking 1980’s retro Easter? 🙂

Cookies frosted and decorated. Since we recently moved and I don’t have my favorite cookie-making helper nearby any more (my nephew, Emory), I had to do all of the work by myself. I think they turned out pretty well though! I took the finished batch along on our Easter weekend camping trip, and they were a hit around the campfire.

Cranberry Orange Pecan Bread

My optimal breakfast consists of a protein (usually an egg), fruit, and a starch (preferably a little sweet). Growing tired of banana bread, I decided to try something a little different. After consulting my copy of The Grand Central Baking Book, I settled on the Cranberry Orange Pecan Bread for this week. Grand Central Bakery was one of my favorite stops in Seattle. I often went there for lunch, as it was right down the street from my office, but the pastry case always caught my eye (and sweet tooth). A few years ago I saw that they were selling a cookbook of some of their recipes, and requested it from my husband that Christmas. When I got it, I was delighted as I always am in receiving a new treasure trove of recipes, and flipped through it immediately. The Breakfast and Brunch chapter immediately caught my attention, and I looked forward to trying those recipes, including this one.

Ingredients, ready to go!

Stirring in the cranberries and pecans. The cranberries were fresh ones that I had leftover from Thanksgiving and had frozen, which works remarkably well. I love fresh cranberries, but it can sometimes be hard to find them in seasons other than autumn.

One loaf, fresh out of the oven. Letting baked items cool on racks like this prevents steaming of the underneath and allows more even cooling.

Both loaves cooling, along with the cookbook I referred to above. The authors are geniuses and I highly recommend it!

A slice of heaven ready for eating! This is a delicious breakfast bread – not too sweet while the cranberries give it a tart finish and the pecans add texture. Yum! As you can see I made two loaves, one of which is gone at this point, while the other is in the freezer awaiting its demise. I like to freeze one so that we can enjoy the yumminess again in a few weeks, and don’t get tired of having the same thing every morning.