Key Lime Tarts

Okay, so much for my Irish roots! Here we are, the week of St. Patrick's Day, and all our food has a Latin/tropical flair. Ah, well, my Irish ancestors would probably rather have Key Lime Pie and Mexican salad dressing if they had the choice!

As all you long-time readers know, we absolutely love limes around here. You'll also probably know that Brazilian Lemonade is my favorite drink in the whole world. So yeah, this key lime pie? It's pretty much Brazilian Lemonade as a pie. And life doesn't really get a whole lot better than your favorite drink in the form of pie.

This recipe is pretty tart (hahahahaha), but that's the way I like it. I also like to cut that tartness with a dollop of sweetened whipped cream instead of the more traditional meringue. Meringue is gorgeous, don't get me wrong, but I just like whipped cream better. Sue me.

This recipe can either be made as a pie or as tarts. And it's awesome both ways. However, I like making them as tarts because of the following reasons:

1) They're cute.

2) Who doesn't want their very own mini pie?

3) You get more out of the recipe (10 tarts as opposed to 8 slices of pie).

4) The mess is completely self-contained; you don't need plates or a pie server.

5) Double the recipe, pop a whole slew of these on a baking sheet, and you have enough tarts for a party in just a few minutes.

6) I must be held accountable at the end of the day for any and all empty tart tins. There are no slivers of pie mysteriously disappearing throughout the day.

Enough motivation for you? Go tarts! And by that, I mean small pies, not loose women.

Key Lime Tarts

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10 mini graham cracker crusts* (available near the regular graham cracker crusts in the baking aisle)

5 egg yolks

1 14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Around 1/2 c. lime juice. Fresh key lime juice is best, then regular lime juice, then bottled key lime juice. If you're going to use bottled regular lime juice, don't. Honestly, I'm too lazy to juice those tiny little key limes, so I just juice regular limes and call it a day.

2 drops green food coloring (optional and rather controversial in the world of Key Lime Pie purists. If you don't add it, your pies will be more authentic, but also on the yellow side. I normally don't bother with it, but since it's Green Week, I lived on the edge a little.)

Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl, combine egg yolks,


sweetened condensed milk, and lime juice

 Distribute evenly among graham cracker crusts (I used my cookie scoop to make sure things were equal). Place tart pans on a baking sheet

and bake in preheated oven 10-11 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature, then chill in fridge until ready to serve.

Before serving, add a dollop of sweetened whipped cream. Light a coconut candle, turn on your ceiling fan, close your eyes, and pretend that cockroach you found this morning was in Key West instead of, say, Louisiana.

*If you want to bake this as a single large pie, just use a standard 9" graham cracker pie crust and bake for 15 minutes. Top each slice with whipped cream before serving.