November 15, 2011

Key Lime Pie with Coconut-Pecan Graham Cracker Crust

I'm a big, make that huge, fan of citrus. I like the sour bite much more than chocolate, vanilla, etc.

Today is one of my boss's birthday and I was informed that his favorite dessert was key lime pie. I decided to go the non-traditional route and use mascarpone cheese in the filling, to make it even creamier. While I love key lime pie, I am generally NOT a fan of graham cracker crusts. I don't use it with my cheesecakes, ever. I found this recipe using coconut and pecans in the crust and decided that I could probably tolerate graham crackers if it had enough sugar and butter.

Well, it was delicious! This pie is very creamy and easy to assemble. I'm dying for Sean to cut into it so I can have a piece!!! For some reason they didn't have any key limes at the store when I went so I ended up using Persian limes, but if you can get key limes I definitely recommend using those.


Key Lime Pie with Coconut-Pecan Graham Cracker Crust

Ingredients

1/2 cup key lime juice, fresh if possible
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
1 to 2 teaspoons finely grated lime or key lime zest, divided
5 egg yolks
whipped cream, for garnish (optional)
1 coconut-pecan graham cracker pie shell (recipe follows)

Whisk sweetened condensed milk with the egg yolks. Whisk in Mascarpone cheese. Stir in whipping cream and lime juice. Stir in 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons lime zest. Pour into a prepared graham cracker crust and bake at 325° for 15 to 20 minutes.

Coconut-Pecan Graham Cracker Crust

1 ¾ cups crushed graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup pecans
7-8 T. unsalted melted butter

In a food processor, blend together graham cracker crumbs, coconut, sugar and pecans. You want to make sure that none of the coconut is visible. Add about 7 T. melted butter. Pulse a few times. If it seems like it needs more butter add the remaining T. Pour contents into a pie pan and press to form a shell. I used a 9-inch pie pan and there was way too much crust to fit in, so next time I will try a 10-inch deep dish crust.

Bake crust for 10 minutes at 400F. Pin It

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