I tasted my first Mojito in Havan, Cuba shortly after 2001 and absolutely loved it. I was sitting out by the pool at the Hotel Nacional smoking my first Cuban cigar (Montecristo #2), and the waiter passed by carrying a tray of cocktails. Each one was full of green leaves. I had to stop him when I saw that and ask. “Senor, these are Mojitos, the national drink of Cuba.”
I’ve been drinking and enjoying them ever since.
Much more recently, I was cooking a Cuban Meal for my weekly Foodie Group, and I wanted something Cuban for dessert. I didn’t even know if such a thing was possible, at but decided I had to create a Mojito Pie. The obvious place to start was from Key Lime Pie recipes. Add a little mint and some rum and you’ve got it.
But, the proportions are key to balance the flavors. Indeed, making a really good Mojito is not easy for the same reason. I want to taste equal parts tart, mint, and sweet with just the right rum accents too.
It required some experimentation, but I think you’ll like this pie. Certainly I’ve been asked for the recipe often, and several of my Foodie pals have been known to present us with Mojito pie for dessert. Let’s start with the ingredients:
Let’s start with the rum. The alcohol will all bake off, so I decided to go with a dark spiced rum in order to keep as much rum flavor as possible. Sweetened condenses milk, lime juice, and eggs are straightforward Key Lime Pie ingredients.
Fresh mint is essential, of course.
You can make your graham cracker crust from scratch, but if you buy them ready made, the pie is just as good and the recipe becomes quick and easy. I can whip out a couple key lime pies with about 20 minutes of my time plus the oven time.
Fresh versus bottled lime juice? It’s your choice. On the day I took the photo, I was pressed for time and used bottled. Fresh will taste better if you want to take the time to juice a bunch of limes.
And BTW, it’s hard to tell from the photo, but the crust on the left is even Gluten-Free. I wanted to taste one and if you prefer Gluten-Free, this recipe is perfect for it!
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust 9″
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
1 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons of rum (I prefer dark rum for more flavor)
2 cups whipped cream
lime zest
mint leaves to garnish
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350F
Muddle lime juice, rum, and mint leaves.
Some secrets:
- I prefer to chiffonade the leaves first to release as much of their minty oil as possible.
- If you chiffonade, it doesn’t take much muddling. Muddle for maybe 15 seconds then set it on the counter for 5 minutes or so to absorb and meld the flavors. You can jump ahead to whisking the egg yolks while the juices steep.
- Muddle with the rum and the lime juice. The alcohol will also help take on the mint flavor.
Strain out juice and discard the mint.
Whisk together condensed milk and eg yolks until combined.
Add the minty lime juice whisk by hand for 1 minute until combined and slightly thickened. It’s going to look scary, like the thin juice won’t mix for a bit. Just keep whisking and all will be well.
Pur filling into crust and bake on the middle oven shelf for 15 minutes Transfer pie to a cooling rack, let sit until it reaches room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours or until chilled and set.
Add whipped cream, lime zest, and mint leaves just before serving. You can even garnish with lime slices if you like the look. If you want to be able to eat it without picking the mint leaves out, just stick with the zest as I have pictured.
That’s all it takes for this tasty and refreshing dessert!