Blackberry Limeade Bars

My friend KC emailed me the other day, saying that she had made the strawberry lemonade bars. It always makes me happy when people make the recipes that I post. She was asking about other flavor combinations and suggested blackberries and limes. Done and done. So here we are. Thanks, KC!

Tart, sweet, and smooth, these blackberry limeade bars scream summer. They cut clean and transport well (place in a tupperware and lay with sheets of waxed paper). I used key lime zest and juice, because, I'll admit it, I'm a lime snob (and they are so cheap to buy in Tucson). Take advantage of blackberry season while you can with these delightful, jewel-toned gems.

Blackberry Limeade Bars

yields one 8-by-8 inch pan of bars

Ingredients:
Crust
1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Blackberry Lime Layer
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon lime zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups blackberries, fresh or frozen, thawed
3 large egg whites
1 large egg
2/3 cups freshly squeezed lime juice

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line an 8-by-8 inch baking pan with parchment paper.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, 1-2 minutes.  With the mixer on low speed, mix in the flour and salt just until incorporated.  Add the dough to the prepared baking pan.  Press into an even layer over the bottom of the pan.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until light golden brown.  Remove from the oven, maintaining the temperature.

While the crust is baking, make the top layer.  Combine the sugar, flour, lime zest and salt in a large bowl and whisk to blend.  Puree blackberries and press through a fine mesh sieve, mashing with a spatula, to extract as much juice and pulp as possible, straining out the seeds.  Add the egg whites and egg to the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk well to blend.  Whisk in the blackberry puree and lime juice until smooth.

Pour the mixture over the crust and bake until the center is just set and not longer jiggles when gently shaken, about 30 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.  Cover and chill well in the refrigerator, at least 2 hours.  When ready to serve, use the parchment paper to lift the bars from the pan.  Place on a cutting board and slice into bars.

Enjoy.

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Mini Key Lime Pies

For Christmas, my mom got me this adorable mini cheesecake pan. The bottoms pop out! Genius. It's been three months, but I finally took this guy for a test drive. I knew what I wanted my first recipe to be while opening this gift: mini key lime pies.

Make sure you use KEY limes. They pack so much flavor!

These little bites are creamy, sweet, and tart. A breath of fresh air to winter and a cool keynote - keyLIMEnote - to summer, these mini key lime pies will disappear quickly after you make them, to be sure. You could jazz them up in so many ways: whipped cream, mint, blackberry sauce, scoop of ice cream; but I decided to simply garnish with key lime slices. Enjoy!

Mini Key Lime Pies

adapted from Martha Stewart

yields 2 dozen mini pies (or 2 boring, regular-sized pies)

Ingredients:
3 cups honey graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sicks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 can (14 ounces) can sweetened condensed milk
6 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons grated key lime zest
1 cup freshly squeezed key lime juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter in a bowl (I used my fingers). Press into the bottoms of the mini cheesecake pan. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and transfer to a wire rack until completely cooled.

Whisk together condensed milk, egg yolks, key lime zest, and key lime juice in a bowl. Pour into the prepared, cooled crust.

Return mini pies to oven, and bake until the center is set but still quivers when the pan is nudged, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Serve.
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