Tomorrow is Mother’s Day, and that means we’ve hit the end of tiki week. Hopefully this little series has inspired you to do something fun and different for your ma this year. Put away the bubbles and scones and shove a rum drink and rumaki in your mom’s hand, for once! 
Although I’m a big proponent of #dessertfirst, I’ve saved the dessert for last this time. This is actually as much for your tiki mom’s day party as it is for your anytime summer party, especially if you live with someone who’s as obsessed with key lime as Evan is. All of my tiki week recipes have been pretty simple (minus that several ingredient cocktail), and this dessert is no exception: a three ingredient, no-bake key lime filling, quick graham cracker crumb layer, and simple vanilla ice cream topping. Frozen key lime pie cups!
I actually didn’t intend for these to be frozen. They were supposed to have whipped cream on top, not ice cream. But then the day of my photo shoot, just as I was finishing up my garnishes and stuff, my mixer bowl was in the running dishwasher. I’ve made whipped cream by hand with a whisk, and it’s a muther-effer to do, so I decided to try the shake-a-jar whipped cream method. You guys, I shook that stupid jar for like 10 minutes, and Evan took a few turns, and my weak baby arms were jello, and I still just had runny liquid cream. HOW DO YOU DO IT!? 
So anyway, I was ready to do my photo shoot and didn’t want to run back to the store for pre-whipped cream, so decided to fake it for the photos, with vanilla ice cream. Sorry, it’s true. Sometimes we fake it. But then afterward, I stuck the assembled cups in the freezer (since you know, they were topped with ice cream), and later, once everything was frozen, I took a bite, and holy-sweet-tropical-limes, it was better than the original! A tropical, frozen dessert to tie up tiki week!And there you have it. A happy accident, which is really the reason so many people celebrate Mother’s Day to begin with…amiright!?
Frozen Key Lime Pie Cups
Makes 4-6 cups, depending on size
Filling:
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened to room temp
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (key limes if you can find them)
Zest of 1 lime
Graham Crumble:
1 sleeve graham crackers
3 tablespoons melted butter
Zest of 1 lime
Vanilla ice cream
Beat cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, and lime zest together until smooth and combined. Divide evenly among serving glasses.
In a food processor, pulse graham crackers until they're a fine crumb, then add melted butter and lime zest, and pulse until combined. Layer on top of lime mixture, and gently press down (not too firmly).
Top with ice cream, and freeze for a couple of hours until ready to serve. Top with lime zest or slices for decoration.
