The internet has been good to me. I have made some of my best friends, re-connected with old friends, and let's not forget the time the internet saved my ass when the Bad Man pulled that violent crap, took all our money and left the kids and me in a horrible pickle.
But when a friend gave me this shiny new toy -a very dear friend who I met on the internet, saved my ass in many ways, and also knows that when I am worried or stressed I like to bake- I was very excited.
Look....shiny....pretty.....new....
and most importantly, not broken like my other (smaller) one which I
forced to die a horrible death while chopping bittersweet chocolate
even though it resisted. Whoops. My bad. So...don't chop up thick
bittersweet chocolate bars in your mini-pro-chopper. You're welcome.
Not wanting to abuse it on it's first time out of the box, I decided to make key lime bars. Why? Because yet another internet re-connection (high school friend from across the country) had sent me some delicious key lime juice and I wanted to expand beyond pie.
I based the recipe on a classic key lime pie, but wanted a substantial graham cracker crust for the first layer of the bars. I was pretty sure the Cuisinart Elite 4-cup (yeah, you heard me - FOUR CUPS) Chopper was up to the task of crushing graham crackers.
First layer- combine:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 -6 Tbsp melted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
Press in to an 8x8 square pan and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.
Key Lime Bars
Second Layer - Pour into your Mini Cuisinart and mix well:
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup key lime juice
1 can of sweetened condensed milk.
Pour over the graham cracker crust and bake at 350 for 10 minutes, until filling is firmly set.
Do you see that? The second picture, where the blade is not falling out to slice of my unsuspecting thumb
wreck the filling? See? This is the best mini food processor ever,
based on that fact alone. First impressions are important.
Let's have a closer look:
Cuisinart,
I love you. Thank you for figuring that one out. Thank you for locking
the razor sharp blade onto the work bowl when I dump out the contents.
Seriously.
BladeLock System?
I want to speak to that product design person and then kiss them.
Key Lime Bars
Third Layer - Combine in your mini Cuisinart:
1Tbsp softened butter or cream cheese
2 Tbsp key lime juice
1/2 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar
Blend together and add enough milk or half and half to make it about as thick as pancake batter.
Pour over the cooled key lime bars, chill until set.
Thanks, Grace!
