Key Lime Bars
The recipe for these Key Lime Bars requires quick prep and is sweet and zesty with it’s caramelized top adding a twist to this classic dish. It also feeds a bunch of people so is a great way to serve this classic dessert to a crowd.
Servings 12
Calories 258kcal
Ingredients
Base
- 150 grams / 5.3 ounces graham crackers crushed
- 50 grams / 1.75 ounces butter melted
Filling
- 70 grams / 4 large egg yolks room temperature
- 414 milliliters / 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 113 grams / ½ cup heavy cream
- 75 grams / ⅓ cup key lime juice
- 28 grams / 2 tablespoons superfine/caster sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C/375F and line a square tin with greaseproof paper.
Base
- Place the crushed biscuits and melted butter and stir until no dry portions remain in the bowl and the mixture resembles a rough breadcrumb.
- Spoon into your tin and press down firmly.
- Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes until lightly golden.
Filling
- For the filling, place the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream in a bowl and beat on low to break the egg yolks and get the mixture smooth, approximately 2 minutes.
- Add in the lime juice and beat on medium until thick and pale, approximately 2 minutes.
- Pour the into the cooled crust, cover and place in the oven until only jiggly in the center, approximately for 20 minutes.
- Remove and allow to cool completely before refrigerating for a minimum of 3 hours or overnight.
Caramelized topping
- Just before serving, slice into your bars and sprinkle over the 2 tablespoons sugar evenly on top.
- Blowtorch to caramelize or place under the broiler until bubbling and golden.
- Serve up!
Notes
- Lime juice: The very core of this recipe is the fresh lime juice which adds a bright and zesty flavor to the custard filling. Key lime juice is best, but you can replace with any other fresh lime juice.
- Heavy cream: The heavy cream balances out the sweetness in the condensed milk and tartness in the lime juice and gives our bars a texture similar to a light cheesecake.
- Why this is baked: Due to the amount of lime juice in this pie, baking the filling ensures the custard sets which can't always be guaranteed when it's not baked.
- If you don’t want to bake your bars: If you use 80 milliliters or less than ⅓ cup of lime juice, you shouldn't have to, though this will lessen the strength of that lime flavor without using any other setting agents.
- Baking tin: A 18x18 cm or 7x7 inch square baking tin works well here, though a rectangle tin would also work well. Note, the larger the tin from the one used here, the thinner your base and filling will be.
Nutrition
Calories: 258kcal