Adapted from an Epicurious Recipe by Katherine Sacks

Makes approx. 24 mini muffin pans and 20 mini dessert cups

Mise En Place

• 5 tablespoons salted butter
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 3 tablespoons finely grated lime zest, divided
• ⅓ cup fresh lime juice or key lime juice
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ¾ cup chilled heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1 package of Whip It® stabilizer or 1 Tablespoon of Non-Fat Skim milk powder

Special Equipment

Mini 12-cup muffin pans and/or 20 mini dessert/wine glasses

Melt butter and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat or in a microwave-safe bowl. Place cracker crumbs into a small bowl and drizzle in butter-honey mixture over top graham cracker crumbs stir in until well combined; set aside.

Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat cream cheese in a large bowl until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add condensed milk and beat until smooth. Add lime juice and lemon juice and beat to combine. Beat in 2 Tbsp. lime zest.

Using a whisk or electric mixer on medium-high speed, whip cream in another medium bowl to very soft peaks. Sprinkle powdered sugar over cream and Whip It® and continue to whip until it holds stiff peaks. Gently fold ½ of the whipped cream into the lime mixture; cover remaining cream and chill.

Line mini muffin pans with paper liners. Pour key lime mixture into a pastry bag or plastic bag with the corner snipped off and pipe batter evenly into tins. Top each with approx. 1 ½ Tbsp. cracker crumb mixture, breaking up crumbs to completely cover, then press down gently to adhere. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until set, at least 3 hours.

Remove pies from molds, turn upside down, and remove paper liners. Spread or pipe reserved cream over pies and sprinkle the tops with evenly with the remaining key lime zest.

Please note that the desserts in this form thaw very quickly.

So for a recent “Nuit Blanche” outdoor dinner party, I made the dessert in the mini plastic wine glasses picture below. I layered the ingredients in the wine glasses and froze. In the glasses, the dessert did not thaw as quickly and was very elegant to pass around at the party. It was a HUGE hit and I would definitely make again.

Tip: Do Ahead the Mini Cheesecakes (without topping) can be made 2 weeks ahead; cover and freeze.

Thanks to my friend and fabulous photographer @lanakanis for always being there with tips and tricks for my pictures.