KEY-LIME PIE & CHOCOLATE MOUSSE MINI DESSERT CUP RECIPES

Finally, after 3 months without our weekly family get-together, I was so excited to have my son, his girlfriend and my grand-dogie over for dinner. I planned on making a Greek themed menu with the kids’ favorite Greek Potatoes & Roasted Chicken & Tzatziki . I also wanted to make some dessert as I was feeling a bit festive, but trying to keep it somewhat healthy with portion control after a full meal. I have tried cup desserts at different restaurants before and loved the portion sizes and the option of being able to try more than one sweets, as they are much smaller than a regular size dessert. I have some cute cups I thought would work, but to be honest they were a bit too big. I see shopping in my near future for the perfect size mini dessert cups. So, these cups can hold about a cup of liquid as pictured, I would suggest you use something that is at least half this size. In that case you would end up with 6 small cups of each desserts. Of course, you can double up each recipe and make just one of a kind, or double batch of both. Alright, let’s get to it!

Ingredients for Key-lime pie mini cups: - makes 6 small cups (1/2 cup size)

• 2.5 oz of fresh lime juice

• grated zest of 1 lime

• 7 oz of Condensed milk

• 2 egg yolks

• about a cup of graham cracker crumbs

• 1/4 to 1/2 cups of pecans ( I used my favorite Trader Joe’s candid pecans)

• whipped cream

• lime wedges for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add lime juice and zest and mix well. Pour into pie dish and bake for 12 minutes or until set. Remove from oven and cool completely. Refrigerate. I made this the day before and left it in the refrigerator overnight, just whisk it before starting to assemble.

Ingredients for chocolate mousse mini cups: - makes 6 small cups (1/2 cup size)

• 250 ml/8 oz whipping cream

• 175 g/6 oz Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips - use high quality chocolate

• 1 tsp of vanilla extract

• additional powdered sugar if need for desired sweetness

• whipped cream

• 1 cup of crushed chocolate crackers

• 1 tbsp of butter, melted

Heat half of the cream in a small saucepan on medium-high until it starts to bubble, but is not boiling yet. Turn off heat and add chocolate chips and vanilla and stir it with a whisk until chocolate is smooth and completely melted. Add remaining cream and mix until smooth. Taste it and if it is not sweet enough to satisfy your sweet tooth, add some powdered sugar. Transfer into a bowl and refrigerate for several hours or like myself, overnight. When ready to use, whip chocolate cream with mixer until stiff peaks form and color lightens. About 2-4 minutes, but be careful not to over mix it.

Just before you are ready to assemble your lovely little delights, place chocolate crackers into a zip-lock bag and crush with meat pounder.

Chop pecans and add to graham cracker crumbs, add melted butter and mix well. If using home made whipped cream, highly recommended, whip cream in bowl with electric mixer, you can add a pack of vanilla sugar or use regular vanilla, about a teaspoon and add a little bit of powdered sugar as well.

Now the fun part begins! Let’s assemble our cute little dessert cups! The easiest is to use plastic pastry bags. Prepare 3 bags, one with each key-lime custard, chocolate mousse, and whipped cream. For chocolate mousse cups, add a layer of mousse, then add some chocolate crumbs and repeat with mousse. Finish it with whipped cream and decorate it with blueberries and raspberries. Add few mint leaves to finish the look.

For the key-lime cups, add a layer of the graham cracker mixture to the bottom, pipe in the custard, repeat both steps and finish with whipped cream. Decorate with couple of pieces of lime wedges. Voila! What a beautiful site! Gorgeous mini desserts that you do not have to feel guilty about! Enjoy!