Key Lime Pie Cocktail, Elegant Decadence

What is better than a dessert cocktail?  Nothing.  Well, that’s assuming you are ignoring your doctor’s dietary advice.  Growing up in Wisconsin, dessert cocktails were a staple of supper clubs and holiday celebrations.  I was inspired by those supper club cocktails when I set out to make a recipe for a key lime pie cocktail.  I wanted it to feel elegant and decadent all at once.

I guess I should start by saying I don’t use key limes.  I live in Chicago, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen actual key limes in the grocery store.  In fact, other than when I was in Key West, I somewhat doubt any key lime pie I’ve ever eaten contained actual key limes.  Think about it.  When was the last time you saw lime pie on a menu?  Anyway, I’m sure you can use key lime juice for this if you are fortunate enough to have access to key limes, but for the rest of us, we can just use lime juice.

The other key ingredient is my homemade limecello.  You can find that blog and recipe here.  I love using my homemade ‘cellos in cocktails.  The quality and intensity of the flavor is perfect, especially in vodka-based drinks since that is a neutral flavor.  If you don’t happen to have your own limecello, I would recommend against a lime-flavored vodka.  I’m not a fan.  I don’t think those actually capture the flavor of limes.  Just increase the amount of lime juice you use.  I also recommend adding an extra ½ ounce of vodka if you omit the limecello.

I had already experimented with my limecello and created a lime drop cocktail, which was essentially a play off a lemon drop.  You can find that recipe here.  Since I had those ratios down, I reused them in this cocktail.  The real question was what will make this a decadent dessert cocktail?  Ice cream, like the Wisconsin classic grasshopper?  Or do I stick to the key ingredient in key lime pie, sweetened condensed milk?  Ice cream seemed to take me off track of my intended cocktail, and sweetened condensed milk seemed impractical and too sweet, even for a dessert cocktail.  I landed on heavy cream.  When given a nice long shake in a shaker, heavy cream provides the thick richness to make you feel a little naughty as you sip.

To take this over the top, you can add a graham cracker coated rim to your cocktail glass.  To do this, you crush a graham cracker in a food storage bag.  Run a lime wedge around the rim of your cocktail glass, and then run the rim of the glass through the crushed cracker.  This dessert cocktail is delicious, decadent, and really does taste like key lime pie.  Cheers!