I found some short-dated cream on sale and got excited about the chance to make another lemon dessert. As usual, it's not particularly budget friendly, despite coming from the Budget Byte$ blog and even with the assumption of free lemons. Beth figured it would cost just over $4 to make this pie. With lemons accounting for just over $1.50 of that cost. I figured it costs just over $9 to make here (assuming full-price cream, but zero-cost lemons). So, I mean, I guess it's still pretty good when compared to the cost of buying a dessert at a bakery or restaurant, I'm just always a bit shocked at the delta between her prices and ours.

Lemon Cream Pie

Slightly adapted from Budget Byte$

Ingredients

Crust

• 2 c. vanilla wafer crumbs
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 90g butter, melted

Filling

• 1 can (~400mL) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 1/2 c. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 250-300mL heavy (35%) cream

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Combine the cookie crumbs, sugar, and butter and mix well.
3. Press into a 23cm (9") pie plate.
4. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
6. Combine the sweetened condensed milk, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
7. Whip the cream.
8. Stir about half of the cream into the lemon mixture, then fold in the remaining cream.
9. Pour the filling into the cooled pie crust, cover, and chill until set (~2 hours).

Okay, well, technically this one wasn't a true key lime pie since I didn't make it with key limes. I just used the limes off of the tree out front. I'm not entirely sure what variety they are. But the finished pie came out tasting somewhere in between "key lime" and "Persian lime" and I quite liked it!

I found the amount of filling somewhat skimpy on this recipe. That said, it actually works quite well if you're having it without the whipped cream. The filling is quite sharp and sweet, so I think a "properly" filled pie would actually be overwhelming without the whipped cream to cut it. I've doubled the filling recipe below. But if you want to have your pie without the cream, I'd recommend just doing half the amount of filling.

Sadly, I forgot to take a photo. I guess I'll just have to make it again!

Key Lime Pie

Slightly adapted from Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

Crust

• 1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 6 Tbsp. salted butter, melted

Filling

• 1 c. lime juice
• 2 Tbsp. grated lime zest
• 2 cans (~400mL each) sweetened condensed milk
• 4 large egg yolks

Topping

• 300mL heavy (35%) cream
• 2 Tbsp. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Combine the graham cracker crumbs and the sugar.
3. Pour in the butter and mix until evenly dampened.
4. Press mixture into a 23cm (9") pie plate.
5. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10 minutes.
6. Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly.
7. Meanwhile, combine lime juice, zest, condensed milk, and egg yolks. Mix well.
8. Pour filling mixture into crust and smooth top.
9. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10 minutes.
10. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely. Cover and chill overnight if desired.
11. Once completely cool, whip the cream with the icing sugar until stiff.
12. Top pie with whipped cream, slice, and serve.

This recipe comes courtesy of the C&C Cakery blog, which, sadly, no longer exists. Luckily I copied the recipe into my notes file several years ago, before it disappeared. And I'm glad a did. These bars are way tastier than they have any right to be! The recipe might sound a little weird, but it's dead easy to put together and really delicious.

Barbarian Bars

Slightly adapted from C&C Cakery

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 c. graham cracker crumbs
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 c. chopped dark chocolate
• 1/2 c. chopped milk or white chocolate (or a mix of both)
• 1/2 c. butterscotch chips¹
• 1 c. unsweetened dried coconut²
• 300mL sweetened condensed milk³

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a 23x33cm (9x13") pan with parchment paper.
2. Combine the graham cracker crumbs and butter and mix well.
3. Dump the graham cracker mixture into the prepared pan and press firmly into an even layer to completely cover the bottom of the pan.
4. Sprinkle the nuts in an even layer on top, followed by the dark chocolate, then milk chocolate, butterscotch chips (or toffee bits), and finally the coconut.
5. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over everything, spreading it as evenly as possible. Try to coat the entire surface with milk.
6. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until browned on top (25-30 minutes).
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before cutting.
8. Cut into squares and serve.

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¹ I didn't have any butterscotch chips, so I substituted Skor toffee bits and am very happy with the results. ^Back
2 The original recipe called for sweetened coconut, but, given how many other sugary ingredients were already present, I opted for unsweetened. I definitely think that was the right call! The bars are delicious, but, even with the unsweetened coconut, they are still very sweet! I think they would have been cloying and much too sweet if there'd been sugar added to the coconut as well. ^Back
3 The original recipe called for a "14-oz" can of sweetened condensed milk (which works out to just shy of 400mL in metric). However, the standard size can for sweetened condensed milk here is 300mL. And I only had one. It was a little tricky to get it to cover the whole surface. Having the extra 90-ish mL definitely would have made that task easier. That said, 300 was enough (just barely). And I think the lesser amount made for a better sweetness balance. I think more milk would have put these in danger of being too sweet. So it worked out for the best in the end. ^Back

Ube Halaya (Purple Yam Jam)

I had a bunch of grated ube left after my ube waffle experiemnts the other day, so I decided to go looking for ideas of what to make with it. I contemplated various cakes and puddings but, after consulting with TF, we opted for ube halaya as it's delicious on its own and also an ingredient in many other ube-based desserts.

I ran across a few different variants on the basic theme of ube, sugar, and milk (either dairy, coconut, or both). Most included coconut milk and sweetened condensed milk. Some also included evaporated milk, granulated sugar, and/or brown sugar. And a few called for grated cheddar.

Most of the pictures of homemade ube halaya that I've seen show it being quite thick. As in, moldable and sliceable. I got tired of cooking and stirring mine, so I stopped it before it got that thick. Mine came out more like Nutella or tahini than butter or membrillo.

Ube Halaya

Slightly adapted from Decorated Treats

Ingredients

• 300g thawed frozen grated ube
• 1 tsp. ube extract
• 150g sweetened condensed milk
• 150g coconut milk
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 45g unsalted butter

Directions

1. Combine the ube, ube extract, sweetened condensed milk, and coconut milk and mix well.
2. Cook over medium-low heat¹, stirring constantly, for 30 minutes.
3. Mix in the salt and butter and continue cooking and stirring for another 10-15 minutes.
4. The original recipe called for cooling the jam with the lid on, periodically wiping away condensation before transfering to the fridge for storage. I didn't do this; hopefully my jam won't suffer for the missed step.

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¹ The original recipe called for cooking it over low heat, but after 35 minutes at low, the mixture still wasn't thickening up as much as I'd hoped, so I nudged it up to medium-low. After another 20 minutes at low, it still wasn't sliceably thick, but I was tired of standing over the pot, so I called it. I'm hoping that if I put it on medium-low from the get-go next time, I can get it to a reasonable consistency within the original 40 minute timeframe given. ^Back