brulee

Sometimes life is easy. Life gives us new friends, or a promotion at work, or time for an extra cup of coffee in the morning, and somehow, all feels right in the world. Sometimes life gives us a surprise sale at our favorite store, or a long-awaited answer to prayer, or extra caramel drizzled in the bottom of our Starbucks cup, and everything in us shouts, “YES! Thank you! Hooray!” But sometimes life gives us illness. Sometimes life gives us broken relationships, or a flat tire, or a feeling that you’re two steps behind of where you should be. Sometimes it feels like life dumped a bunch of garbage on us and the answer to all of our dreams is “NO!” One those days, I need an extra helping of grace… and these bruleed key lime pies. 

These past couple of weeks have been hard. Life just feels off. But we’ve all been there, right? We’ve all felt at the end of our rope. Out of gas, out of time, out of luck. We’ve all been tired.

We start by stirring together a simple graham cracker crust that gets pressed into the bottom of mini tart pans. While those bake, we whisk together the most basic of key lime pie fillings. Once poured into the baked crusts, the pies are sent for another round in the oven. From there, the tarts are left to chill briefly before a sugar crust is bruleed on top.

Whipping up these bruleed key lime pies makes me feel like a boss. They feel like an easy dose of fancy and delicious, particularly on these days that can sometimes seriously suck. Bruleed key lime pies make me feel like I’m doing something right. 

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Bruleed Key Lime Pies

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Bruleed key lime pies have a buttery graham cracker crust, with a tart, creamy key lime filling, topped with a sheet of bruleed sugar.

• Author: Kate Wood
• Prep Time: 15
• Cook Time: 15
• Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the crust

• 1 sleeve of graham crackers
• 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons of brown sugar

For the key lime pie

• 4 egg yolks
• 1 (14 ounce) can of sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup key lime juice
• 1–1/2 teaspoons key lime zest
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

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Instructions

To prepare the crust

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray 4 (4-1/2 inch) tart pans with removable bottoms with baking spray.
2. Pulse graham crackers in a food processor to crumbs. Add the remaining ingredients and pulse to combine. Divide the crust mixture among the 4 pans and press into the bottoms of the pans with your fingers. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the crust is set. Set aside to cool slightly.

To prepare the key lime pie

1. In a medium sized glass bowl, whip the egg yolk for about 1 minute with a wire whisk. Add the sweetened condensed milk, key lime juice, and zest. Whisk to combine.
2. Divide the mixture between the 4 tart pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 12-14 minutes, or until the outer edges of the tart have set. Allow to cool at room temperature for 30 minutes and then chill in the refrigerator until cold, or at least an hour.
3. When ready to eat, unmold tarts by turning upside down on a piece of wax paper and pressing gently on the removable bottom with your fingers. Once removed, flip out on to a plate. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar on each tart and caramelize using a kitchen torch. Allow to rest for 3-4 minutes and then serve.

Notes

• You can prepare these in a muffin tin, however, be mindful to use liners. Baking time will differ.

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 4

Recipe Adapted from: Gourmet Magazine