Tuesday, May 13, 2008

TWD: Florida Pie...the Tartelette Way.



This week's Tuesday's with Dorie was chosen by Dianne's Dishes and she chose Florida Pie. I am not a key lime fan..it is never the dessert I would ever choose on a menu. Lemon yes...but lime..I'd rather have a chocolate molten cake! Limes are pretty and smell good but...dessert?



But in the spirit of being challenged by the TWD crew...aka I didn't sign up just to make fun things I am absolutely dying to eat like last week's Peanut Butter Torte, but rather to do the ones that I might not ever try on my own.

So I decided to switch it up a little bit...because I didn't want to end up with one big 9" or even a 6" pie that we didn't eat. I have friends who like (LOVE!) key lime, so I turned to individual servings again. My favorite thing to do is to take something and make it miniature. Portion control.



I used this molten cake pan with really deep wells. I also found these super cute little individual tart pans for 39 cents each at BBB, so I lined 9 of those with the crust too. Made my own crust with cinnamon grahams, sugar, salt, and butter, froze and baked...though in 20/20 hindsight since you bake the pie as well you don't need to bake the crust I would imagine.

Since Monday was our anniversary, I wouldn't typically have all the time I would on a regular Monday eve to finish my pie before Tuesday, when I'd have to assemble the thread and pictures to post. So made crusts on Sunday, and then Monday evening between 'home from work' and 'anniversary dinner'...I made the filling, baked and froze.

I am not a merengue fan, so not only do I not like key lime pie, but I don't like merengue either. I am a big fan of heavy whipped cream toppings on things like lemon tarts and banana cream pie, so I went that route early on Tuesday morning, even though making the merengue sounded interesting.



The recipe came together fine even though I was unsure. First off I have never made a pie like this before. I wasn't sure if making modifications to it would mean it 'never set' like a cold pie, even though you bake this one.

After reading the PQ thread, I made some modifications thanks to comments from other ladies...aka one mentioned she used evaporated milk instead of cream and I was all over that, the heavy cream in Dorie's recipes just KILLS me mentally. So I went that route. I also used 2% condensed milk. Whole Foods was OUT of Key Limes (who's out of key limes!?) so I used regular. The evaporated milk and coconut never quite thickened enough for me but it did reduce, so I just used a sieve to capture coconut and used that for the bottoms mostly. The egg, lime, condensed milk combo was interesting too. Again, I was unsure if it would stay liquidy. Funny how since I didn't really care about eating it, I was not AS worried about it looking wonky.



BUT the baking took care of all of all my worries. The baking took the liquid and make it more custardy. Again, never having made anything like this before, was unsure what it should look like after 12 min in the oven. Since my oven runs a little warmer in the back, the back 2 pielettes got a little too toasty and 'fell' when they came out of the oven...this recipe 'puffs' a bit.



Out of the 8 mini tarts and the 6 pielettes I made...the mini tarts were the ones that seemed to come out visually the cutest. Getting them out of their containers might have proven an issue, but the freezing helped pop them out a bit. The molten cake pan had REALLY deep wells which I would have love to fill and make really tall pielettes but I didn't have enough filling. They are super fun looking piled with heavy cream though!


Pielette


Tartlette

As I removed and assembled the mini tarts and pielettes, I tasted some of the filling as it came off on my fingers etc. Didn't taste as good solo...but LATER on I had a slice of one of the tartelttes...actually very good and very tart.



I took them to work and the gals who love lime seemed to really like them, said they loved how tart they were and not too sweet. So a win if you like lime.

Thankfully this is really something I don't have to worry about wanting to eat a ton of, unlike last week's PB torte, but it sure looks tasty. I can't wait to see everyone else's TWD entries, it's my best part of Tuesdays...enjoy!

27 comments:

Engineer Baker said...

I love the huge swirl on top, and your pielettes and tartlettes look adorable! Mini = cute = perfect every time

Christine said...

What a good deal on the shells! Great looking minis and I love your pictures

Anonymous said...

I used the same little tartelette pans, but I didn't pay 39 cents each for them! I got ripped off. :) I had issues getting them out of the pans too. I ended up just stabbing a fork down in the middle and jiggling them around until I could grip an edge. Not very elegant.

Heather B said...

pielettes and tartlettes oh my! So cute! Great job!

CB said...

I don't have to tell you that I am a big fan of minis b/c of my cupcake obsession so you know I am loving your tartlettes and pielettes! Great job!
Clara @ I♥food4thought

Anonymous said...

Even though it may not be your favorite, they still look great.

mimi said...

so very cute, love your mini lime tartlettes, even if you weren't a fan of the flavor.

Bumblebutton said...

Super cute swirls. I'm with you on the flavor. Never understood why people like lime desserts...

Miranda said...

I love love love love love LIME! Key lime tarts are my fave. Next time please advise me so I can have a sample. Looks good darlin!

Katrina said...

the minit-tarts are so cute! I love the toasted coconut on top.

Anonymous said...

love the pielette :) these look great!

steph- whisk/spoon said...

looks lovely with that swirl of cream! i hear you about portion control and dorie's heavy use of cream. yikes!

PheMom said...

Very pretty! I love the sliced lime shots too!

Gretchen Noelle said...

They look really cute. Love that you have pielettes and tartlettes. Reminds me of aplets and cotlets. :) Great job. Welcome to TWD!

Shari@Whisk: a food blog said...

Love the pielettes! Your swirl is perfect on top.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely adorable, and even more impressed that you couldn't eat a whole 6 inch pie! I need to start hanging around you as I would have no trouble finishing one off. Especially if it looked as good as yours. Great photography also.

How To Eat A Cupcake said...

Oh gorgeous! You make me so hungry!

The frosting I made was very stiff. Perfect for piping. You could use butter, but it would melt easier, making it harder to pipe. Truthfully, I'm not a shortening person either, but I really enjoyed this frosting. The heavy cream gives it a perfect richness.

Anonymous said...

I love the mini tarts with the meringue piled on top! Your pictures are so pretty too!

PS- For the cream cheese brownies it's the actual chocolate- I hope you get to make and enjoy them!

Anonymous said...

Your tarts looks fabulous!

Natalie said...

Mmmmmm.... those look amazing and tasty!

Anne said...

Such cute minis! I thought about buying those pans but didn't know how they would come out... good to hear it worked out for you. Beautiful!

Melissa said...

Those minis look delicious!

marae said...

Thanks everyone for all the wonderful comments!!!

I have to say that even though I am not a key lime fan, these were really good. I snuck one or two ... the right blend of tart with sweet but not TOO sweet. So while I was unsure...seems it worked out! And cute to boot.

I loved seeing a lot of the other TWD gals do mini pielettes and tartelettes too.

HTEAC...I will have to try that frosting for something new !!

Erin...thanks for letting me know about the chocolate! I will def want to make them.

ostwestwind said...

I like the swirls on the top, that looks great!
Ulrike from Küchenlatein

Anonymous said...

Whipping cream with key lime pie is definitely my favorite. I don't think I'll do meringue when I make this again. Beautiful tarts.

PheMom said...

Beautiful! I have such tartlette pan envy! One of these days I'm going to get to spring for them!

Lori said...

Wow these are adorable. You did a fantastic job!