Bloatal Recall: Key Lime Pie with Passion Fruit Coulis and Huckleberry Compote

This is a terrific key lime pie. The filling is tart, sweet and creamy. The crust is made of nuts and graham crackers (it's so good, you could eat it straight, like a cookie). My only mistake was using a deep dish pan. The filling only went about half way up. The crust, on the other hand, went all the way up and loomed over the sides like a fortress wall, daring the filling to try and escape from its graham cracker prison. Then I had the brilliant idea to fill in all that empty space with whipped cream. So I whipped some cream, filled my pastry bag and then realized I didn't have enough. So I ended up piping as many large rosettes as I could, but I didn't like the way it looked. By then I was totally irritated and didn't bother artfully arranging the compote or coulis. I just slopped them both on with disgust and ate some. It was then I realized how good this pie is and I started to cheer up a little. But I admit, I brushed off the coulis and compote. Because while they were both very good on their own, I felt like it was too many competing flavors and I just wanted my key lime to shine. But I left them in the recipe for anyone who is interested. Oh, and I reduced the crust ingredients so it should fit a standard size pan now (I think).

KEY LIME PIE WITH PASSION FRUIT COULIS

AND HUCKLEBERRY COMPOTE

Makes 8 servings

Compote:

16 oz. fresh wild huckleberries or wild Maine blueberries (or frozen wild blueberries)

1/2 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Coulis:

3/4 cup frozen passion fruit puree,* thawed

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

Crust:

1/4 cup slivered toasted almonds

1/4 cup unsalted roasted, shelled pistachios

2 tablespoons sugar

8 graham crackers

large pinch of salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

4 large egg yolks

1/2 cup fresh key lime juice or regular lime juice

whipped cream for garnish

*Available at some specialty foods stores and online from lepicerie.com or amazon.com.

1. Compote: Combine huckleberries and sugar in medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to simmer over medium heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Simmer until reduced to 1 1/4 cups, about 15 minutes. Refrigerate until cold. Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Discard vanilla bean before serving.

2. Coulis: Combine passion fruit puree and sugar in heavy small saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Simmer until mixture is reduced to 1/2 cup, stirring frequently, about 6 minutes. Transfer coulis to bowl and refrigerate until cold. Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and keep refrigerated. Discard vanilla bean before using.

3. Crust: Heat oven to 350° F. Combine the almonds, pistachios and sugar in a food processor. Pulse until the nuts are finely chopped (don’t over process or they will turn into nut butter). Add the graham crackers and salt. Pulse until thoroughly combined. Add the butter and pulse until moistened. Press mixture onto bottom and up sides of a standard 9-inch glass pie dish (not deep dish). Bake crust until set and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool crust completely. Maintain oven temperature.

4. Filling: Whisk sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks in medium bowl to blend. Add lime juice and whisk until blended. Pour filling into cooled crust. Bake pie until filling is set, about 18 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate pie overnight.

5. Cut pie into wedges. Spoon huckleberry compote on top. Garnish with dollop of whipped cream. Drizzle passion fruit coulis around and serve.

slightly adapted (crust only) from Bon Appétit, September 2006 by Hedy Goldsmith

nuts and sugar

The sugar soaks up the nut oil so it doesn't turn into
nut butter (although it will if you process it too much).

finely chopped nuts

adding graham crackers and salt

crumbs

butter added

in the way too big deep dish pan

key limes

key lime juice

egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk

adding key lime juice

pouring in the filling

Right about now is when I realized I was in trouble.

half full

Sounds optimistic, but it's not.

baked

As you can see, key lime filling doesn't rise. I already
knew that, so I was already depressed two photos ago.

piping rosettes

Right about now I realized I didn't have enough cream.

not fitting the vision in my head at all

blueberries and sugar

I couldn't find wild huckleberries (can anybody?),
so I used blueberries. I also didn't have any vanilla
beans handy, so I used a little vanilla extract
(same goes for the passion fruit coulis).