Baking Fail: Key Lime Pie/Soup?

Hi Guys!
Happy Friday! I thought this week I would share a funny story with you.. because... baking doesn't always go as planned ;)

So as you know from last Friday's post, my family recently had a little dinner party to send my little cousin off to college! I made a couple of desserts for the occasion including what I thought would be this awesome and super duper easy Key Lime Pie (Key Lime pie is becoming a favorite in our family lately)! My Uncle is a huge fan as are most of the boys! Since I was kind of pressed for time, I wanted to find a recipe that was quick and really easy (mistake #1). I came across what seemed like the easiest pie recipe in the world on Real Simple's website and it turned out to be well... interesting. 

Here's what you'll need:

1 Store bought Graham Cracker Pie Crust 

1 14oz can of Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 6oz can of Limeade Concentrate

1 Cup Heavy Cream

Instructions:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat Condensed Milk, Limeade Concentrate, and Heavy Cream, until mixture is thick and custard like (this will take about 5 minutes on medium speed)

2. Pour filling mixture into pie crust 

3. Refrigerate for at least 5-6 hours (overnight is best) until completely set

4. Top with Lime zest or Lime wedge (optional, I also added whipped cream to top mine)

This pie filling was indeed simple... and while it it tasted delicious, the consistency was a lot like soup, which made me a bit nervous! I hoped it would just set up in the fridge and be fine by dinner time the next night! I checked on my pie every couple of hours that night and it seemed to be setting nicely and thickening up! I was happy! So I decided to get fancy and top it with some homemade whipped cream and a lime green sugar sprinkle garnish! Beautiful! Looked great! I was very pleased with my super simple pie!
Sooooo, dessert time rolls around and I break out my fancy, delicious pies- feeling very proud of myself, and my uncle cut into the Key Lime Pie and took out a piece for himself and one for my boyfriend. Turns out the pie literally WAS SOUP on the inside! UGHHH! Horrible embarrassment! As my uncle so kindly put it: "Not your best work!" :( But as is usual with our family, it was all in good fun and everyone got a good laugh out of it! And of course there is no use in crying over spilled pie?? LOL! Despite its appearance and consistency, they did say it tasted pretty good still! ;)
Even though this was a huge baking fail, I still wanted to share it with you guys. It just goes to prove that some things don't always work the way you want them to or think they will! And this is especially true with baking! This wasn't my first baking fail, and I'm positive it won't be my last! Some recipes are just trial and error (although I don't think I will be trying this one again hahaha).  Lesson learned- don't take the easy way out!
If you do attempt this recipe (maybe you're crazy?), may I suggest serving it in bowls... with spoons! Haha!

Thanks for reading! Hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend! Soak up these last little bits of summer! 

♥ Nichole

*This recipe was adapted from Real Simple 

Glorious Nutter Butter Pie

Hi everyone! Happy Friday!

Hope you have all had a good week so far! 

This weekend my baby cousin leaves for Towson University! I can't believe how quickly time goes! Seems like she was just a little girl and I was doing her makeup and giving her her first highlights! As usual, our big Italian- Irish family put together a pasta dinner (complete with Grammy's Gravy recipe) to send her off! Dinners like this one used to be a weekly event for our family, and they are some of my favorite memories from when I was growing up! We don't get to do them as often anymore, but I love that we still make an effort to get together and celebrate milestones and new chapters in each others lives.

So, I decided to whip up a couple of desserts for the occasion, because... well, that's what Grammy always did! A few days ago, I was browsing one of my favorite blogs, Cookies & Cups, and saw a recipe for what looked like the most delicious pie I have evahhh seen! Like evahhh!!! Now, I'm not usually a pie person, but there was something about this Nutter Butter Pie that looked and sounded delectable! And I knew my family would enjoy it! The funniest part is the fact that I had never had a Nutter Butter cookie until a few months ago... I had no clue I was missing out on such a yummy snack cookie! So I felt like this Pie needed to be made, especially to make up for the fact that I was late to the Nutter Butter party in life!

Here is what you'll need:

For the crust:

About 24 Nutter Butter cookies, crushed

6 Tbsp melted butter

For the filling:

8oz Cream Cheese, softened 

1 Cup Marshmallow Fluff

1/3 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter

1 Cup Heavy Cream, whipped

About 12 Nutter Butter cookies, crushed

For the topping:

1/2 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Tbsp Powdered Sugar

1/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter, for drizzling on top

2-4 Nutter Butter cookies, crushed

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Crush 24 Nutter Butter cookies (you can do this in a ziplock bag, I used a food processor

3. In a large bowl, mix butter with crushed Nutter Butter cookies until well combined

4. Evenly press crust mixture into the bottom of a 9'' pie pan and up the sides (I used the back of a large spoon to press and shape the mixture), make sure mixture is packed well so the crust holds and keeps it's shape.

5. Place crust into the oven for 12-15 minutes, until set.

6. While crust is cooling, crush 12 more Nutter Butter cookies (I used the ziplock method for these ones), and begin working on filling mixture by beating cream cheese, marshmallow fluff, and peanut butter together. 

7. In a separate bowl whip heavy cream until soft peaks form.

8. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese, fluff, and peanut butter mixture until completely combined. Add crushed Nutter Butters to filling mixture.

9. Evenly spread filling mixture into cooled pie crust.

10. Whip heavy cream and powdered sugar until soft peaks form, then evenly spread whipped cream on top of pie filling. 

11. Warm peanut butter in the microwave for 20-40 seconds. Drizzle over top of whipped topping. (optional)

12. Crush 2-4 Nutter Butter cookies and sprinkle on top (also optional).

This pie was such a huge hit with everyone (even Rosie) and it was the perfect addition to a lovely meal with family! And it was super easy!

I would like to wish my baby cousin the best of luck this weekend as she makes the move to Towson! I am very proud of you and know you will do great! We love you! ♥

Thanks so much for reading, and I hope you find this Nutter Butter Pie as delicious as me and my family did!

Have a great weekend!

♥ Nichole

Ps. Side story: The other night I also made Butter Chicken from Cookies and Cups blog for my boyfriend and I. It was amazing! So amazing that I took a picture and posted it to Instagram and tagged her in it! Well, she liked and commented on the picture with little heart eyed emojis and I was totally geeking out! Lol! My boyfriend thought I was crazy because I was so starstruck and excited! But seriously, I worship the bloggers and beauty gurus that I mention on here! Please take the time to check out their blogs and videos as well! They are full of amazing stuff and never disappoint! :)

Recipe adapted from Cookies & Cups