6/21/12

Are You Ready to Rumble?

Get Ready for the Key Lime Smackdown!!


Back in April, I posted a Baking on Friday segment about making a Key Lime Tart.  In my post, I admitted to using regular limes in my "Key lime" tart by saying:
you'll need 3/4 cup of fresh lime juice from about 4-5 fresh limes.  I use regular limes.  I can't tell the difference in taste from Key limes, and you don't have to juice so many!  

Oh. My. Goodness.  I received no end of grief from several of you who thought making a "Key lime" tart using regular limes was nothing short of sacrilege.  Dana from Stormy Days, who just happens to live in the Florida Keys, offered to send me some Key limes so that I could perform a taste test.  And guess what!!


Yesterday, Dana came through with a big box of beautiful Key limes from Florida!  I can hardly weight to get juicing these babies.  Aren't they gorgeous?  Thank you, Dana, from the bottom of my mixing bowl.

Sometime this weekend (still working out the details), I'm going to make two lime tarts.  One will be made with regular limes, and one with Key limes, and we shall see what we shall see.  I'll be testing the tarts on several parameters, including taste, aroma, texture, and color, not to mention just how many limes it takes to come up with 3/4 cup of juice.  Just now I'm working out an elaborate and fool-proof scoring scheme and in the end, we will know whether Key limes are superior.  Any predictions?

Winner will awarded the prestigious "Lime Cup", and who wouldn't want that?



As I said, I'm still working out the details on this because I need to bring in some independent taste testers in the form of my neighbors and possibly my kids.  Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of this Key Lime Smackdown Extravaganza!  Insert your own audio here of Queen singing "We Will Rock You" or watch it on this video:




11 comments:

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Boy, I wish I lived closer. I'd love to be a taste tester of BOTH of those pies. I love to 'substitute' things in recipes. That cup is so cute! I'm betting the plain limes win!

gpc said...

The key lime pie will be the winner, if you like key limes! There are very real differences, but the difference in which wins will be you - if you like regular limes best, you'll like the regular lime pie. I like them both and I agree with Cheryl -- just wish I were a taste tester! :)

Lynda Halliger Otvos (Lynda M O) said...

Ya gotta love big speakers. Husband was the reigning sound man at the Filmore (when there was only One) and we love to hear that bass thump. the speakers he attached to my computer are nearly as big as the monitor-but who's rocking out now !~! Queen is one of my favorite groups of all time.

Lynda Halliger Otvos (Lynda M O) said...

Oh yeah, the lime question: Key Limes All the Way Bay-Bee. I have lived for thirty years with both kinds and personally there is no comparison. I would donate the cute little cup right back cuz my home doesn't do china well what with all those little woobers running in and out all week long but i hope the Key Limes are Victorious.

Snoodles said...

Whoo hooo! I think I'll just head on up there and participate in the Smackdown taste tests!! Personally, I think my lime pies are just fine with regular limes, but I don't want to be attacked for my opinion! LOL Fun to rock with that old song!

quiltzyx said...

Well, the Key Limes don't look all that lime-y, do they? It will be interesting to see what the taste test reveals.....!

Dana Gaffney said...

Key Limes! Key Limes! chanting and raising the flag of my people, LOL. I think gpc has a point, it will come down to you, so I hope it's a blind taste test and you have at least one person who hasn't tasted your, (muttering here, "plain jane, green, ordinary, easy to find, persia doesn't even exist anymore) tart. Fun, fun, fun.

free indeed said...

Well, I'm anxious to hear the results and the different opinions. I wouldn't know the difference between the two as I so seldom use either. I wonder if you will get mixed results from the tasters just because of personal preference...I think I might go with the regular limes...it would be all I could find here in northern Maine anyway.

Judy1522 said...

I honestly don't think there is a difference in taste when made into a pie.

sandyb said...

Boy I wish I were there to help taste test. I am sorry to say I have NEVER had real Key Lime pie - the closest I have ever come to Key Lime is Key Lime yogurt - I know - I haven't lived yet.

Have a great time and happy tasting.

kc said...

Oh, man, I have made MANY a convert to key limes with my homemade key lime, with fresh off the tree key limes, pie! My mouth is watering even now!!!

We lived a couple years in FL, then we moved to the Rio Grande Valley, and boy, have we been spoiled! We're a bit north, but still in South TX, but we don't have any key lime trees nearby anymore... :( So what's keeping us from losing the weight put on by key lime pie, you ask?? Well, our grocery store (and a lot of roadside stands) sells a BIG bag of key limes for about $1.50. Yeah, it's REALLY hard to resist such a bargain!!

Just be sure to wash off your limes before you squeeze 'em. If there's any black mold on 'em, just rub it off, the limes'll be fine. And clean out the squeezer (if it's handheld model) periodically, as the rind builds up a yucky residue on it.

Mmmmmmmm...if I give you my address, wouldja consider sending a slice? Oh, nooo...never mind...we're going to the store later today...I'll just grab a bag there & make myself a WHOLE pie!