Frozen margarita pie recipe

Frozen Margarita pie

This is not the kind of recipe that normally appeals to me (sadly…I'm a bit of a food snob) and recipes that make use of things like bags potato chips, or pretzels, or cans of sweetened condensed milk normally send me running for cover. In fact I don’t know what ever compelled me to try this particular recipe…but I'm glad I did, and it's now one of my all time favorite and incredibly quick and easy dessert recipes.

The only caveat to making this really great is to try to find key limes of you possibly can. Key limes, which are much smaller and rounder than the gargantuan limes often seen in grocery stores far removed from the Mexican border, have a much citrusier and complex taste, and make for a better pie.

This is not an original recipe of mine…and I confess I cannot remember where I found it originally. Someone deserves the credit for it…but that person is not me!

Frozen Margarita pie

The crust

1 ½ cups of pretzels, blended fine

1 1/3 cup of white sugar

½ cup of melted butter

The limey innards

½ cup of fresh squeezed lime juice

2 Tbls tequila

2 Tbls Triple Sec

The zest from one lime

1 14 oz can of sweetened condensed mil

1 cup of heavy cream

Mix together the blended pretzel (salt and all) with the melted butter and sugar, and pat into a large pie crust dish, or a number (8 or so) of smaller individual dishes. The crust should be about ¼ inch thick. Let set by allowing to freeze for about two hours.

After the crust has hardened, whip the whipping cream until very firm, and then fold in all other ingredients until well blended (stirring gently, as you don’t want to reduce the volume of the whipped cream too much!).

When a homogeneous mixture, pour into the waiting frozen pie crust, and place back into the freezer to set for a few hours before serving.

This pie will keep in the freezer for far longer than you could ever maintain the willpower against devouring it, and is perfect as a make in advance solution to a dinner part dessert. Cooling, refreshing and just slightly grown up; a perfect and cooling end to a spicy Mexican or tropical dinner…although I eat this after just about anything!

My mom, who is gluten intolerant, swears this dessert is better without the crust, and she always has me make extra without any pretzels for her…which makes this dessert about as effortless as possible.

I like to serve this with a few lime slices for garnish and with a sprinkle of granulated sugar over the top.