Key Lime Pie Ice Cream

Another weekend over in the blink of an eye – hope you all had a good one! Ours was busy, but lots of fun with weather that couldn’t have been more gorgeous. Saturday I ran a million and one errands, and finally came across the mini M&M’s I’ve been trying to find for months. Many thanks to those of you who left comments and emailed suggesting Walmart after I asked for input last week. I’ve only ever been able to find the minis in the little tubes near the registers, so stumbling across this big bag of them was a very pleasant surprise!

Sunday was a race day for Shane and, like all race days, started quite early. This time it was a triathlon up in Ashland, MA – just a fun, low-key race to serve as a warm-up for the real deal later this summer when we head to Canada for his first attempt at the full Ironman distance (for those not familiar with triathlons, the Ironman consists of a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112-mile bike and a marathon (26.2 miles). Insane, right??). Shane’s parents joined me to watch the race and after we went out to lunch with them to celebrate Father’s Day. Shane and I rarely nap, but we crashed for an hour when we got home 🙂

One of our traditions on summer race days is a stop at our local ice cream shop, but we actually skipped it yesterday as I’d stocked the freezer with homemade ice cream late last week: chocolate-peanut butter for him, and this key lime pie ice cream for her! I bought the key limes recently thinking I’d make a pie, but in the end I got lazy, and since the ice cream promised all of the same flavors, but with a lot less work, it won out. This is another Philadelphia-style ice cream, so no egg yolks to fiddle with – just whisk a few ingredients together, chill and churn. I did up the fat content of the recipe some by substituting whole milk in place of 2%, just to ensure I’d wind up with a really creamy consistency for the ice cream. To mimic the crust, crushed graham crackers are stirred into the ice cream and also added as a garnish. You really do wind up with a treat that’s reminiscent of the pie. This key lime pie ice cream was the perfect way to cap off a great summer weekend!

Key Lime Pie Ice Cream
adapted from Cooking Light, July 2004

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup freshly squeezed key lime juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
pinch of salt
1 (14 oz) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup coarsely crushed graham crackers, plus extra for garnish
Key lime wedges, for optional garnish

In a large bowl, whisk the whole milk, lime juice, heavy cream, salt and sweetened condensed milk together. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill until the mixture is very cold, at least a few hours.

Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In the last minute of churning, add the crushed graham crackers. Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until firm, at least 1 hour. Garnish with additional crushed graham crackers and lime wedges before serving.

Makes about 1 quart