Put The Lime In The Coconut

Exactly three weeks ago we celebrated my mom's birthday. She turned 41 again...just saying. For her birthday I knew I wanted to make her something involving her absolute favorite ingredient, key lime. My mom actually spent some of her childhood in Key West, Florida so this is a way that I can help her reminisce a bit about her past.

My inspiration started when Eden, from Sugar and Charm, did a week of key lime treats and crafts (seriously I know I have mentioned her a whole lot on here, but I absolutely admire her fantabulousness). Then, while pinning my life away on Pinterest, I found this image.

via

Now, I'm no key lime lover, but doesn't this look delicious? To elicit a bit more drool I decided to switch it up and use an Oreo crust instead of graham cracker...yeah, I totally live on the edge. The Oreo crust reminded me of all the mud pies my mom made when I was a kid so I thought, "why not?!" 


Here's the recipe I used, with my adaptations as well.

Key Lime Pie Fudge
Recipe: Slightly adapted from Sugar Cooking

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 1-1/4 cups finely crushed oreos (about 24 cookies)
• 3 cups or 4, 4-oz bars of good quality white chocolate, finely chopped
• 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon finely grated Key lime zest, about 5-6 Key limes
• 1/3 cup key lime juice – freshly squeezed is better
• Dash of salt

Directions:

1. Line a square 8"x8 baking pan with foil or parchment paper, extending it up and over pan (this helps you get it out of the pan later). Butter sides and bottom of the pan, especially the corners. Set aside.
2. To make the crust: Preheat oven to 375. In a medium sized bowl, melt butter in the microwave. Add crushed Oreos and toss to mix well. Spread evenly into the baking pan and bake for 4 to 5 minutes or until edge is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.
3. Stir white chocolate and sweetened condensed milk in a large heavy saucepan over low heat just until chocolate is melted and all the lumps are gone. Remove from heat and stir in zest and juice and salt. Spread mixture evenly into the prepared pan.
4. Cover and chill for two hours or overnight (longer is better to help it set). Lift the fudge from pan using edges of foil. Peel off foil and use a heavy non-serrated knife to cut the fudge into one-inch pieces. (Tip: Keep a damp kitchen towel handy to clean off the knife after each cut. This will keep give your fudge a cleaner appearance.) Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one week (this made me nervous so I kept mine in the fridge and it seemed to keep really well).

I added little slices of key limes to the fudge for a fun little presentation when I gave it to my mom. She loved it! I would call this a success. 

Seriously, just looking at photo is making me think that maybe I should give key lime another try. I love the key lime slices...they are just so gosh darn cute. Also, here's a little tip...if you get a bag of key limes (to all you local folks, I found these at Winco of all places) and have some leftover after making this fudge you can use it on all sorts of dishes. I added some juice and zest from some of the limes to chicken and it was great. It had a slight sweetness and then the slight sour taste of citrus. I think it would taste divine on fish as well. 

Let me know if you end up venturing into the world of key limes...it was definitely a new experience for me, but most definitely a happy one!