Key-Lime Pie Mini Trifles

Have you been thinking about the mini key-lime pie trifles all week? I have, so I thought I’d share the recipe with you. I needed 16 servings so I doubled the recipe, yet I ended up with enough custard and whipped cream to make 6 key-lime tarts as well. Those are now in my freezer for a quick treat when I’m having a sweet craving. There are three steps in this process, the custard recipe can be used in a Boston Cream pie mini trifle as well. Recipe from Tea Time magazine, May/June 2011 issue.

Start by mixing up your Vanilla Bean Custard. This recipe will make approximately 2 ½ cups and takes about 25 minutes to make.

2 ½ cups whole milk

½ vanilla bean, split, scraped, and seeds reserved

6 egg yolks

2/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

¼ teaspoon salt

• In a large saucepan, combine milk and reserved vanilla-bean seeds. Scald milk over medium-high heat.
• In a large bowl, combine egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt, whisking well to combine. Slowly add scalded milk, whisking well.
• Return mixture to large saucepan. Bring to a boil for 1 minute over medium-high heat, whisking continuously. Remove from heat. Cover and refrigerate until needed.

Next you will need to make your whipped cream unless you plan on using store bought. I highly recommend making your own though. It is so light and easy to whip up. I’ve also learned that if you put the mixer beaters in the freezer for a short time before whipping the cream it speeds up the process.

2 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

• In a large bowl, beat whipping cream at high speed with an electric mixture until soft peaks form. Slowly add confectioner’s sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate until needed.

Finally, you add key-lime elements to your Vanilla-Bean custard. You will need to add:

2 cups Vanilla-Bean custard

3 tablespoons key-lime juice

2 tablespoons lime zest

2 cups graham-cracker crumbs

¼ sugar

2 cups whipped cream

• In a medium bowl, combine Vanilla-Bean custard, key-lime juice, and lime zest, mixing well. Set aside.
• In another medium bowl, combine graham-cracker crumbs and sugar.
• In 8 minature trifle dishes, layer half of graham-cracker mixture, half of custard, and half of whipped cream. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients.
• Garnish with lime slices if desired.

As I mentioned, I doubled the recipe for the custard and whipped cream. I had extra graham-cracker crumbs as well so I pulled out my mini-tart pans, baked a graham-cracker crust and poured the extra custard in. I froze these then added the whipped cream, it spread much easier on the frozen custard. I then put them back in the freezer until the whipped cream was frozen and I could wrap them up. I’m looking forward to snacking on these over the next few weeks. 

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