Recipe: Easy KeyRecipe: Lime Pie with a Twist - White Chocolate!

See how tiny these key limes are? Intensely flavored and tart! Image by m kasahara via Flickr

From Denny: In the heat of this summer (which it seems you have heard me endlessly whining about - grin) and to be enjoyed after a good garlicky seafood dish is a citrus flavor to cut the oils, salt and heat.

We adore Key Lime Pie here in Louisiana! Louisianians often visit the Florida beaches and golf courses where we were introduced to such a sweet treat as to what they like to create with Key Limes! (We also love their soft shell crabs - yum!) Here is another twist on the classic recipe by using white chocolate.

Easy Key Lime Pie with a Twist

Yield: one (9-inch) pie

Ingredients:

1 cup whipping cream

1 (11-ounce) package white chocolate morsels

1 tablespoon Breakstone's sour cream (you can use another full fat brand)

1 teaspoon grated Key Lime rind (these things are tiny to grip; if you have a microplane it's easier to grate them)

1/3 cup fresh Key lime juice (these tiny little limes are awesome!)

1 (9-inch) pre-baked chocolate graham cracker crust (I prefer a chocolate crust as I find the plain just a little too bland but you can choose whatever you enjoy!)

Garnish: lime slices

Directions:

Over low heat in a medium saucepan you want to combine the white chocolate morsels and the whipping cream.

Cook 5 minutes or until white chocolate melts; stir constantly. Remove from heat and now add the sour cream, lime rind and juice; stir well. Note: The reason you remove it from the heat is that you don't want the sour cream to separate or the white chocolate to seize up on you.

Note: Variation - Before you pour this mixture into the crust you can add some zing with another variation: spread a thin layer of sour cream on the bottom of the crust. You could also spread a thin layer of melted semi-sweet chocolate here too! I've even placed finely chopped butter-roasted pecans here.

If you want to just proceed with the basic recipe and skip the variations, go ahead and pour the sour cream-lime mixture into crust. Cover and chill at least 8 hours. Garnish, if desired with more whipped cream, finely chopped butter-roasted pecans and lime slices for beautiful presentation! Dare I say it? Lip-smacking good! :)

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Recipe: Strawberry White Chocolate Napoleons

Napoleons are a popular sweet in Louisiana and especially New Orleans. Even the restaurant chain of La Madaleine features them daily as do other pastry shops.

This recipe is easy to make because of the purchased frozen puff pastry. All you do after baking is fill them with an easy white chocolate mousse mixture and top with fresh strawberries. Of course, the final garnish is a lovely drizzle of melted semi-sweet chocolate.


Strawberry White Chocolate Napoleons

Yield: 12 servings

From: Kraft Foods


Ingredients:


1 sheet frozen ready-to-bake puff pastry

1 package (6 squares) premium white baking chocolate

1 ½ cups heavy or whipping cream, divided

1 1/3 cups sliced strawberries

2 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted


Directions: Thaw pastry sheet at room temperature 30 minutes. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.

Unfold pastry sheet on lightly floured surface. Cut into 3 strips along fold marks. Bake on cookie sheet 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from cookie sheet. Cool on wire racks.

Microwave white chocolate and ¼ cup of the cream in large microwavable bowl on HIGH 2 minutes or until white chocolate is almost melted, stirring halfway through heating time. Stir until white chocolate is completely melted. Cool 20 minutes or until room temperature, stirring occasionally.

Beat remaining 1 ¼ cups cream in chilled medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form. DO NOT OVERBEAT. (It will separate and become useless.) Fold ½ of the whipped cream into white chocolate mixture. Fold in remaining whipped cream just until blended.

Split each pastry strip into 2 layers. Set aside 2 of the top layers. Spread remaining 4 layers each with ½ cup of the white chocolate mousse and 1/3 cup of the sliced strawberries. For each dessert assemble 2 layers and top with 1 of the reserved layers. Drizzle with melted chocolate.

Refrigerate up to 4 hours. Makes 12 servings.