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).

passion fruit puree and sugar

I used Goya frozen passion fruit pulp
(available in many supermarkets).

blueberry compote

passion fruit coulis

key lime pie

key lime pie with passion fruit coulis & blueberry compote

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Walnut & Dried Fruit Charoset

Unless you've been to a Passover seder, chances are you have no idea what charoset is (I've never seen it at the supermarket or on the menu at the diner). It's a sweet condiment eaten during the seder ceremony (and believe me, when you're an hour into a seder and waiting for dinner to start, it tastes like heaven on a matzo). I'm a big fan of the Ashkenazi charoset, usually made of walnuts and chopped apples. But I thought for a change, I would try a Sephardic version made with dried fruit instead. And I have to say, while it was really delicious, I did miss the apples a little. Maybe just because that's what I'm used to. Maybe next year I'll really go nuts and make a pistachio version. It might be nice to brighten up the seder plate with some green glop, instead of the usual brown glop.

WALNUT & DRIED FRUIT CHAROSET

Makes about 3 cups

The Passover meal typically includes charoset, which symbolizes the mortar used by Israelite slaves in Egypt. Recipes can vary greatly, depending on the country of origin. Charoset is used as a condiment — almost like a chutney — and would be good with many kinds of roasted meat or poultry. This spicy version is based on a recipe from Yemen.

1 1/3 cups (4 oz) walnuts, toasted and cooled

2/3 cup (6 oz) dried Mission figs, stems cut off

2/3 cup (6 oz) dried apricots

1/3 cup (4 oz) pitted dates

1/4 cup sweet red wine (such as Manischewitz Extra Heavy Malaga)

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1.      Pulse walnuts in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a medium-large bowl and set aside.

2.      Pulse together figs, apricots, and dates until finely chopped. Transfer to the bowl with the walnuts.

3.      Stir in the wine. Sprinkle spices evenly over mixture and stir until combined well. Can be made 3 days ahead and kept, covered, at room temperature.

from Gourmet, April 2003

walnuts

chopped walnuts

dried fruit

chopped dried fruit

chopped walnuts and dried fruit mixed together

adding the sickeningly sweet wine

adding cinnamon

all spices added

walnut & dried fruit charoset

charoset "sandwich" on matzo

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Brown Butter Nectarine Cobbler/Cake

You'll have to excuse me for a minute if I'm not making sense because my head is spinning. I just looked up cobbler online to help clear up a few questions. But between the cobblers, grunts, slumps, buckles, sonkers, crisps, crumbles, and pandowdys...I'm more confused than ever. It seems they're all made with fruit, but some are topped with oatmeal and others with biscuits, dumplings and/or batter.

And if that wasn't enough, then there's the brown betty made with breadcrumbs or bread pieces (like a bread pudding). I could break it all down for you, but I'm dizzy and don't really feel like it. I'm getting the impression that they all blur into one another anyway, so what's the point? Does that sound pessimistic? I guess that's just the mood I'm in (not very Betty Crocker of me, I know). Then again, she wasn't very Betty Crocker either. I looked it up and it turns out she wasn't real, some guy made her up (if you're devastated, you can cheer up....Sara Lee is a real person and still alive.) See what I did there? I droned on and on for so long, you didn't even realize I never described this recipe. It's kind of like a cross between cobbler and cake. There.

BROWN BUTTER NECTARINE COBBLER/CAKE

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

3 cups fresh nectarines or peaches, in 1/2-inch slices (about 1 lb.)

5 oz. sugar (about 3/4 cup)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 oz. flour (about 3/4 cup)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup sliced almonds

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 tablespoons demerara sugar

______________________________________________________________________

1.       Heat the oven to 350º F. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the fruit slices, 1/4 cup sugar and lemon juice. Stirring constantly, bring the mixture to a simmer, then take the pan off the heat.

2.       In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until it smells very nutty, turns golden, and flecks of dark brown appear, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the brown butter into an 8-inch-by-8-inch baking dish.

3.       In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, remaining 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. Pour the buttermilk into the dry ingredients and mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Scrape the batter on top of the brown butter, use a spatula to even out the batter but be careful not to mix it into the butter. Scatter the nectarine slices and juice on top of the batter without stirring. Sprinkle with the almonds, nutmeg and demerara sugar. Bake until golden brown, 50 to 55 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm.

from New York Times (July 27, 2011)

I used peaches...fresh, local beauties.
You know they're basically fuzzy nectarines, right?

peach slices

peach slices, sugar and lemon juice

butter browning

butter in baking dish

adding buttermilk to dry ingredients

dough mixed (it should be thick, like biscuit dough)

dough gently added, trying not the displace the butter

spread as delicately as possible

peaches added

almonds, nutmeg and demerara sugar sprinkled on top

Demerara sugar is an unrefined, light brown sugar. It
tastes slightly like molasses. The grains are larger than
refined granulated sugar, so it adds a nice crunch when
sprinkled on top of baked goods.

The bag I found said "raw cane sugar", not "demerara sugar" on
the front, so I read the ingredient list just to make sure it was demerara.

demerara sugar up close

baked

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