Key Lime Pie Ice-Cream

What does quarantine, Pinterest, and my craving for sour foods have in common? A burning desire to try a new recipe since there is literally nothing else to do. Also, I had an unopened ice-cream maker in my cabinet that was calling my name. A couple weeks ago, I finally answered. I decided to try making Key Lime Pie Ice-Cream.

In the summer of 2019, my boyfriend and I visited his family in Florida. His parents were wizards in the kitchen and loved to try out new recipes. As a result, when we arrived there was some homemade ice-cream in the freezer: Vanilla, and Key Lime Pie flavors. My mouth was already watering as I reached for the more sour of the frozen treats. I could not believe how similar the flavor was to the true pie! Typically, I was wary of anything in one form claiming to taste like its counterpart in the original format. Fruit, cheesecake, pie, bacon bits… They had all let me down before. But this? This was so good, I (accidentally) finished off the whole quart of ice-cream while I was there.

(Sorry about that. )

Ever since, the idea of making it myself has been bouncing around my skull, just waiting for the perfect opportunity. But I’d made homemade ice cream before with some friends. It was a lengthy process, and I didn’t have a lot of free time on my hands.

Cue a nation-wide pandemic, my state under quarantine, and the loss of one of my two jobs. Suddenly, I had nothing but free time. I began searching through Pinterest, looking for something that could keep me occupied. New dinner recipes, a new hobby, maybe a DIY project with materials I already had—I was open to pretty much anything. And then I remembered my ice-cream maker, and the incredible dessert my boyfriend’s parents had made. I narrowed my search and sifted through several recipes, until I found one that would suit my taste buds, and my ingredients. Here is the recipe I used.

I still ended up having to go to the store for two things, because I don’t know many people that keep heavy whipping cream in their fridge, but I was in and out of the store in ten minutes, having bought just enough for the one batch I was going to make. No sense in wasting money I would struggle to earn back right now!

When I got home, I started getting my ingredients together. Whole milk, heavy whipping cream, key lime juice, and the zest and juice of two fresh limes were all whisked into a metal bowl. I double checked my recipe, added a dash of salt, and tasted it. I frowned.

It was okay, but the consistency was so watery... and it wasn't nearly sweet enough. What had I missed?

Oh right! The sweetened condensed milk, of course! I opened one can and poured it in, but didn't have enough for the recipe. Luckily, I had bought another can at my trip to the store, and eyeballed the remaining few ounces I needed. I tasted again. It still wasn't sweet enough. and the consistency hadn't changed. What was going on?

And then it hit me. I definitely did not screech in the middle of my kitchen at 9:00PM. I certainly didn't crouch down and proceed to nearly have a panic attack on my kitchen floor over ruined ice-cream. Because I had, in fact, not used sweetened condensed milk, but evaporated milk.

I wanted to cry. I had the correct ingredient in my cabinet, I had just reached for the wrong can! They looked almost identical; it was my fault that I hadn't read the label properly when getting it down. Still, I said a few choice words directed at the marketing team for these two products. But now, here I was, with a batch of not-quite ice-cream liquid, and no more whole milk. I didn't really want to go back to the store, so I started googling if one could be substituted for the other.

And it could! My mistake was fixable, but it required adding powdered sugar to the evaporated milk until the consistency and sweetness was correct. I didn't trust my abilities to gauge it properly, especially with it already mixed in with everything else, so I resigned myself to another trip to the store. This time, I bought a little more whole milk than was necessary, just in case, but I was determined to do it properly this time.

I called the wrong mixture a lost cause and dumped it, cleaned the bowl, and I started again. In went my milks, my juices, and my zest. Whisk, whisk, whisk, and carefully read the freakin' label before adding my condensed milk.

The consistency looked good, and it tasted great! I sprinkled some salt and added an extra splash (or three) of bottled lime juice just because nothing is ever sour enough for me, covered the bowl in cling wrap and stuck it in my fridge. I placed the inner bowl of my ice-cream machine in the freezer so it would be totally frozen in the morning and ready for me to use.

Now, the ice-cream maker I had bought several months before was this cute little teal machine from Target. It was only 20 bucks, and I knew it was something I wanted to try doing again, so why not buy it? Except for the fact that I now had about half a gallon of ice-cream liquid chilling in my fridge, and a pint-sized ice-cream machine to freeze it with. Because it was so small, it would need to completely refreeze between each time it was used. The power it took to freeze a single cup's worth of liquid warmed up the inner bowl too much to use twice in a row.

So I spent the entirety of the next day measuring out cup after cup of my mixture, pouring it into this tiny ice-cream machine, waiting 20 minutes for the batch to be done, transferring the mixture to my ice-cream bowl that went in the freezer, cleaning out the inner bowl of my machine, and refreezing it before each round.

And I still didn't finish in a day. It took so long for the inner bowl to refreeze completely, that by the time I was on my last batch of mixture, it was late and I was exhausted. I decided to leave it for the next morning, and I would be able to have my ice-cream that night after dinner.

Let me tell you, despite my initial mess-up, and the ridiculous repetition of using the world's smallest ice-cream maker, it was well worth the wait.

The finished product was cold, creamy, and oh-so tart. It was shared with my family and even my brother, whose Key Lime Pie I rave about, went back for a second bowl. This was high praise from him! The dessert was delightful not only in the sense that it was enjoyed by more than just me, but that I had made it myself. It was a true labor of love that resulted in happiness, during a time where happiness was hard to find.

I often find myself complaining about quarantine, and how crazy I am going in my house. I'm sick of my pets, my books, the TV shows we have binged our way through, and I'm definitely sick of cleaning my house. I miss physically going to work—another clear sign I am going crazy.

But I find myself being thankful as well. Without this forced time at home, I don't think I would be searching as fervently for things to add to my life. I've taken up sewing, I'm writing more, trying different food combinations with things I already have, and deciding that if ever there was a time to try something totally new, this is it.

It may be a difficult time for people, some more than others, but there is something to be said for the quality additions quarantine has given us. I still hope that life will return to normal quite soon, but if I keep having fun and finding joy in the things I haven't let myself do before, I'll be okay for a while longer.

I hope you will too.