When faced with life’s ups and downs, pie always cheers

During the past few weeks, we’ve experienced some ups and downs, the typical ebb and flow of life. Along the way, we’ve discovered the magical combination of friendship and food. Whether to help celebrate a happy occasion or to offer comfort during a difficult time, homemade treats are a very special gift. 

Our friends, Bob and Debbie (who live just around the corner) are always asking how they can help. And, sometimes, they just show up - usually with something delicious to eat. They’re constantly experimenting with recipes, trimming calories, enhancing flavors, finding ways to tweak ingredients and techniques to improve the results. 

Two of their recent successes include Bob’s Key Lime Pie and Debbie’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie (see photos). Almost every recipe for Key lime pie calls for some amount of Nellie & Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice found in the familiar yellow bottle. Very few recipes tell the baker to juice two dozen Key limes, let alone ask the intrepid cook to find a store that carries the tiny green citrus fruit. 

Most groceries and produce markets carry Persian limes, which are larger and tarter than Key limes (which are also called Mexican or West Indies limes). The smaller, sweeter and more fragrant Key limes grew plentifully in the Florida Keys until a 1920s hurricane destroyed most of the groves. 

Today, Key limes are more prevalent in other parts of the world than in the citrus- growing regions of Florida and California. But it’s well worth the search to find them. As you may imagine, the combination of freshly squeezed Key lime juice and a spoonful of bright zest gives Bob’s Key lime pie a unique flavor boost. 

And, if you’re concerned about the calories typically found in a slice of Key lime pie, you’ll be happy to know that one of the substitutions in his recipe is fat-free sweetened condensed milk. Although both are made from milk and sugar, the regular version has 15 grams of fat per tablespoon, while the fat-free variety has no fat and slightly fewer calories. 

Debbie’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie was a complete surprise. She hinted that there were a few secret ingredients, but wouldn’t reveal them until after we’d tasted a slice (actually, devoured is a better description of our eating approach). 

Her recipe calls for sugar-free and reduced-sugar ingredients, including chocolate chips, which aren’t always available at the supermarket. You can find Hershey’s brand on Amazon, while King Arthur Flour has a version on its website, and sometimes specialty dark chocolate can be found without sugar (usually sweetened with stevia or not at all). 

Maple syrup and peanut butter are less difficult to find in sugar-free or reduced-sugar formulas, as more and more manufacturers turn to the stevia plant as a sweetening agent. The most surprising ingredient for me was silken tofu. All tofu is made from soybeans, but there are different varieties. 

For regular or Chinese tofu, the beans are soaked, cooked in the soaking water and strained. The liquid is coagulated, strained again, and the curds are pressed into a block. Firm tofu has less water content than medium or soft tofu, but the texture can vary between brands. 

Silken tofu (sometimes called Japanese tofu) is completely different. The soy milk created when the beans soak is coagulated without curdling, and the moisture is not pressed out of the cake. Without curds, the result is a delicate, silky texture that mixes well into other ingredients. 

Debbie’s pie hid her secrets beautifully - all you could taste was peanut butter and deep chocolate with a hint of maple. The silken tofu helped transform the mixture into a smooth, creamy custard. A garnish of whipped cream and crushed chocolate-covered pretzels completed the presentation. 

Thank you, Bob and Debbie, for sharing your secrets.

Bob’s Key Lime Pie 

1 1/4 C graham cracker crumbs 
1/4 C sugar 
1/2 C melted butter 
5 egg yolks 
2 14-oz cans fat-free sweetened condensed milk 
1 C Key lime juice 
1 T Key lime zest 
whipped cream (optional) 
lime slices for garnish 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat the inside of a 9-inch pie pan with nonstick cooking spray. Combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter in the pie pan. Spread the mixture evenly to line the pan and use the bottom of a drinking glass to press the crumb mixture up along the sides. Bake for 10 minutes. Combine egg yolks, condensed milk, lime juice and zest in a mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer to beat until slightly thickened and smooth. Pour into baked pie shell and bake for about 10 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature and refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with whipped cream and lime slices, if desired. 

Debbie’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie 

1 C sugar-free chocolate chips 
1 12-oz container silken tofu 
1/2 C sugar-free maple syrup 
1 C reduced-sugar creamy peanut butter 
1 9-inch chocolate graham cracker crust 
chopped chocolate-covered pretzels 
whipped cream 

Place chocolate chips in microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir chocolate and heat 30 seconds more. Repeat stirring and heating until chocolate is just melted; set aside. Place silken tofu and maple syrup in the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add peanut butter and process until combined. Add melted chocolate and blend until smooth. Pour filling into pie crust. Smooth the top with the flat of a knife blade and refrigerate 30 minutes. When ready to serve, garnish with whipped cream and chopped chocolate-covered pretzels, if desired.