Ice Cream Review: Key Lime Pie by Blue Bell

Natural light is the best light!

Key lime pie is a top-three kind of dessert for me. The best I've ever had was at the Palm a couple of years ago when I met my dad for an awesome and boozy lunch one day during the week (my dad is mega cool like that). Something magical happens when you transform tart key lime juice into a creamy custard that sits in buttery graham cracker crust OH MY GAWD GET IN MY MOUTH RIGHT NOW!

..........yeah, sorry about that.

Needless to say, I'm pretty picky with what I label as "good" or "great" and I think that Blue Bell knocked it out of the ballpark with this one.

If you live in the south or southwest USA, you have the extreme fortune and pleasure to be able to purchase Blue Bell ice cream. Personally, I love that it's produced a little over an hour from where I live AND they still sell half gallons of ice cream (unlike those chintzy national brands who keep shrinking their cartons).

In addition to having a myriad of flavors they churn out year round, Blue Bell introduces different seasonal flavors during the year and really hit the jackpot with their key lime pie ice cream -- especially since it's summer time and the two go hand in hand.

Upon peeling off the lid of the container, I immediately noticed the massive chunks of graham cracker crust and upon closer inspection, I could see creamy white swirls of whipped topping. The ice cream was a pale yellowy green color which is GOOD since fresh key lime juice is more yellow than green anyway. Nicely done Blue Bell, nicely done.

Texturally speaking, the ice cream was noticeably more crumbly when I was scooping it out than traditional ice cream flavors but I've read that that is due to having the fruit juice in it and honestly, it really doesn't bother me. The mouthfeel was creamy and that is what is really important anyway.

You know when you taste something so delicious that you close your eyes and make noises like a dinosaur? That sums up my first bite of my ice cream cone. I may or may not have called my mother to ask her if she knew just how long ice cream lasts in the freezer thinking I might stock up.....sadly for me, apparently buying ice cream FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR is probably not a good idea. Especially since my freezer is pretty tiny....oh well I guess I will be forced to have ice cream EVERY DAY to get my fix before they stop making it!

First world problems.

Blue Bell key lime pie ice cream: A+

Lemon Bars

I love lemon bars. Sweet but tart with a rich shortbread crust, they are probably one of my all time favorite desserts EVER. It also doesn't hurt that they are pretty easy to make which is always a huge plus in my book.

I found these off of a website called Pinterest. Hellooooooo addiction! In case you live under a rock or in Antarctica or something, Pinterest is an online network of virtual pinboards. In a nutshell, you find a picture of something that you like and you pin it in a category of your creation. Then your followers/friends can tag it to their pinboards if it something that they like too. These pictures are linked to the pin's origin. So for example, if you find a pin from a food blog, nine times out of ten it will take you to the recipe so that you can make it! Sounds pretty fun right? WRONG! More like PRETTY EFFING AMAZING AND ADDICTIVE IN CAPS!!!

Also, Pinterest makes you feel creative while hoarding things on the internet...FOR FREE!

Back to the lemon bars. These are the first of many things that I have pinned that I want to experiment in the closet that is my kitchen. Unlike most lemon bars that I've had, these were a bit more tart and that really appealed to me. I don't particularly like things that are *too* sweet; I liked that these had a bite at the end.

One thing to note about my picture, I sprinkled the powdered sugar on too soon. I made these and then brought them to my grandparents' house three hours away. By the time we bit into them (which was pretty much as soon as we arrived), the powdered sugar had already melted away for the most part. Be sure to sprinkle it on right before serving.

Perfect Lemon Bars

For the crust:

   * 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

   * 1/3 cup sugar

   * 1/4 tsp. salt

   * 1 tbsp. lemon zest

   * 1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Filling:

   * 4 large eggs

   * 1 1/3 cups sugar

   * 1 cup lemon juice, freshly squeezed and strained

Preheat oven to 350F. Line 9×9-inch baking pan with aluminum foil.

Make the crust. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt and lemon zest. Cut butter into chunks and add to flour mixture. Blend in with an electric mixer at low speed until mixture forms coarse, sandy crumbs. Pour into pan and press mixture down (with your fingers or the back of a spoon) into an even layer.

Bake for 16-19 minutes, until just lightly browned around the edges.

While crust is baking, make filling. Whisk together all filling ingredients in a large bowl.

When the crust comes out of the oven and is still hot, pour in filling mixture.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until filling is set and does not jiggle when the pan is gently shaken.

Cool completely before slicing.

Top slices with confectioners’ sugar to serve. Makes about 24 bars.

Recipe from Baking Bites