Thursday, June 25, 2009

Key Lime Pie

For my work's summer pitch-in, I wanted to make the perfect summer dessert--one that was both fruity and light on the stomach. While perusing through one of my favorite recipe sites, MyRecipes.com, I came across a light version of key lime pie from Southern Living Magazine. I instantly knew I had to try it! While making desserts is certainly a passion of mine, finding a healthier version of my favorites is equally exciting. It just proves that you can cut a lot of the fat and sugar and still end up with a dessert that is just as delicious.

Key lime pie is a favorite of mine, but I honestly can't remember the first time I had it or even recall anyone in my family making it when I was a child. I remember ordering it once from Red Lobster and being sorely dissapointed. It was most likely the pre-frozen kind, no better than what you get in the freezer section at your local grocer. I made sure to garnish my pie with key lime wedges and rind so that everyone would know it was NOT a frozen pie :) I also used one of my decorating tips and a border technique I learned in cake class for the whipped topping.

This recipe is pretty simple and self-explanatory. It takes very few ingredients which is both a time and money saver. I will note that it calls for 1/2 cup of lime juice but is not specific. I assumed fresh, so I went out and bought a bag of key limes. Having never made a key lime pie, I had to return back to the store in order to buy a lime squeezer seeing as my fingers were not a very effective tool! Squeezing the juice out of the key limes does take quite a bit of time, so if you are looking to save even more time you might want to opt for a bottle of Nellie & Joe's Famous Lime Juice. Their website includes a list of retail locations.

Key Lime Pie:

Ingredients

  • 1 (14-oz.) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
  • 3/4 cup egg substitute
  • 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons grated lime rind (about 2 limes)
  • 1 (6-oz.) reduced-fat ready-made graham cracker crust
  • 1 (8-oz.) container fat-free whipped topping, thawed
  • Garnishes: lime wedges, lime curls

Preparation

1. Process first 4 ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour mixture into piecrust.

2. Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden. Let pie cool completely, and top with whipped topping. Garnish, if desired.

Note: Nutritional analysis is per slice.

Yield

Makes 8 servings

Nutritional Information

Calories: 290 (12% from fat)
Fat: 3.7g (sat 0.5g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.0g)
Protein: 7.4g
Carbohydrate: 55.1g
Fiber: 0.1g
Cholesterol: 3mg
Iron: 0.4mg
Sodium: 185mg
Calcium: 143mg

5 comments:

  1. YUM!.I created a no bake version (I will post at some point) you use sugarfree vanilla pudding, jello/a little light cream cheese as the main ingredients. cuts way down on cals. But this is delishhhh looking.

    I wanna see it when you make it! mmm

    ReplyDelete
  2. That looks really cool. I love what you did with the whipped topping. You are really talented with frosting, lady. Too bad I'm not there to taste it and make sure its good. I'll have to trust you. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think I might try another key lime recipe I saw on the back of my whipped cream package. It calls for the light key lime yogurt and lime jello... mmmm :)

    And yes it did turn out really yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  4. YUM..one of my favorites. I make a frozen version..I like yours better...!!!Figtreeapps

    ReplyDelete
  5. Seriously that PIE made me drool! I must try it!

    ReplyDelete