2007/02/07
This lime cream is absolutely delicious, and extremely versatile. It is egg-based, and buttery, but the eggs do get cooked, which means you can serve it to that paranoiac in your life who demands his chicken cooked to cardboard-like consistency, and still claims he can see the salmonella swimming around in the tiny bit of remaining juices. For me, that's my Dad. And honestly, it's usually much easier just to set some delicious looking dessert in front of him and not mention any raw eggs--if it looks good enough, even he knows better than to ask questions. But that isn't a problem here.
This lime cream comes out very tart, but also very sweet. You can use it a lot of different desserts. I've so far made two, since I had leftover lime cream and puff pastry after the first one. They're similar, and the pictures below are of those desserts. The lime cream could also be used in a million other ways, including as a garnish/sauce type thing for a dessert's plating. And, you could use the same recipe, but substitute some other strong fruit juice for the key lime juice.
Key Lime Cream
Makes enough for about 6 servings of the types of desserts seen below. Cooking time: 5 minutes. Cooling time: overnight.The ingredients:
- 1/2 cup lime juice (I used Nellie & Joe's Famous Key West Lime Juice)
- 2 3/4 oz (about 5 1/2 tbsp, or slightly more than half a stick) butter
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
The algorithm:
Mix all the ingredients together and heat over a double-boiler. Whisk continuously until the mixture thickens (at about 178 degrees Fahrenheit). When it thickens, it will happen quickly, and it will be quite obvious. Depending on how vigorously your water is boiling, and how close to the water you put the bowl with the mixture, it could take between one and ten minutes. When I make this, I sometimes don't even use a double boiler and set the metal bowl directly on the heating element on medium-low heat, but I whisk constantly and vigorously, so as not to burn any part of the cream. I don't really recommend that method.
Anyway, once the mixture thickens, wait about twenty minutes for it to stop steaming, then cover it and set it in the refrigerator to thicken overnight. It will thicken to a pudding-like consistency.
Once you've got the cream, you can do anything with it. I cooked up some puff pastry dough and layered it with the lime cream to make key lime napoleons, which I garnished with blackberries (a great combination). I had leftovers of everything, so I made a tiramisu-inspired dessert. I took a wine glass and put a spoon of the lime cream in the bottom. Then I took a piece of puff pastry, dipped it in coffee, and layered it on top of the dollop of cream. Then another dollop on top of the coffee-soaked puff pastry, then another piece of coffee-soaked puff pastry, etc. It makes a layered dessert, and the bitterness of the coffee plays well with the tart sweetness of the lime. With both of these desserts, I dusted with powdered sugar for presentation.
Posted by Barzelay on 2007/02/07 @ 12:28 | Comments (5) | EatFoo 1.0 Posts
Comments
Looks amazing man. How do you like working with puff pastry?
Posted by: Chris Santoro at February 7, 2007 7:20 PM
I like it. It's very easy to work with frozen puff pastry, and it always comes out well. You can use it in a million different appetizers and desserts, and people always think it's really fancy.
Posted by: Barzelay at February 11, 2007 4:23 PM
I am looking for a recipe for a sweet, creamy, white key lime sauce I had as a garnish to fresh bluecrab cakes.....yummmmmy.....would this work? or do you have a suggestion? thank youuuuu
Posted by: Lee at April 12, 2008 4:38 PM
Well, this is a very tart and sweet custard, and it's quite thick. It isn't savory at all. But if you want a sweet key lime condiment, then, sure, I guess this would work. You might have to doctor it a bit to get the consistency you want, or add salt, or something like that.
Posted by: Barzelay at April 12, 2008 4:57 PM
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