Happy Tuesday!! When I was a kid I used to get together with a school friend to bake at my parents house. Of course, all the things we made were super easy , we enjoyed making this dessert that was very popular by then called Carlota de Limon.
This Summer treat has layers of Marias cookies which are thin and round cookies usually vanilla flavored. Also, the layers are made with a cream mixture of fresh key lime juice, sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk. This is usually all you need to make this dessert BUT because I wanted it to be a little bit firm I added some unflavored gelatin, and no, it won’t be as hard a jello but it will help you to have a clean cut when you serve, specially during hot days.
Don’t forget to watch my stories on Instagram because I just posted how to make this dessert @Pastry_Tales . Also, if you make this, tag me so I know you made it!
Let’s start with the recipe.
Yield 1 loaf pan (9×5)
Ingredients
About 40 Marias Cookies or any other vanilla cookies (without filling)
1 can sweetened condensed milk by La Lechera
1 can evaporated milk
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon fresh key lime juice (or lime juice)
1 small envelope of unflavored gelatin (I used Know brand)
1/4 cup cold water
Directions
1.- Line the bottom and sides of your loaf pan with plastic wrap. Set aside.
2.-In a small bowl mix unflavored gelatin and cold water. Let it “bloom” for about 5 minutes.
3.- After 5 minutes, the gelatin-water mixture will look like a block. Place this bowl into the microwave and wam it up for about 40 seconds. Take it out from the microwave and using a spoon mix it well. It should look liquid, all disolved. Let it cool for a couple of minutes.
4.- When the gelatin mixture cools: Pour evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk into a blender. Mix in medium speed until everything is well combined.
5.- With the blender running, add the key lime juice LITTLE BY LITTLE. Then, add the cooled gelatin mixture and keep mixing until you get a thicker cream.
6.- Now, it’s time to make the layers. You will have 6 layers of cream and 5 of cookies. You will start with the cream. Pour some on the bottom of your prepared loaf pan, then place 8 cookies, add more cream, then more cookies and continue doing this until you use all the cream. Like I said, I made 6 layers of cream. The last layer HAS to be cream.
7.- Cover with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge overnight.
Next morning…
8.- Take the pan out of the fridge and make sure the plastic wrap is not stuck to the sides. Flip it over a dish and then carefully remove the plastic wrap. You will see a nice and smooth square.
9.- At this point you can slice it or decorated with homemade whipped cream frosting and maraschino cherries like I did OR you can sprinkle some key lime zest on the top and crushed Marias cookies.
Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
