Fresh kaffir lime in desserts?

[pastrygirl]

Both my local grocery store and wholesale produce supplier have fresh kaffir limes right now, only $2.50/# retail. Seems like such a rarity I'd like to use them somehow, but have no experience with the fruit just the leaves. I'm thinking the zest could be used to flavor curd or syrups, or I could make marmalade. What else?

Anybody have experience with fresh kaffir limes? Ideas?

[KatieLoeb]

I didn't even know the limes were used. I always thought it was about the leaves. Do they taste different? Less tart? More tart? More fragrant? How are they different than regular Persian limes?

[patrickamory]

It's the zest that's usually used, along with the leaves. An essential ingredient in a few Thai curry pastes.

The actual lime itself is incredibly bitter and contains very little juice. I've only come across one recipe where the juice is used, for a royal salad, also containing clementine juice, in the first David Thompson.

[pastrygirl]

I contacted my wholesale rep and it was about $15 for a 10lb bag, so I'm going to get a bag to play with. I'll report back.

[Zachary]

Katie,

They're very oddly soapy smelling, in the way that Alsace Gewurztraminer can be soapy. The juice is incredibly tart and somewhat bitter. I've got some peels extracting in Everclear right now, but I'm thinking they could be candied as well.

Thanks,

Zachary

[KatieLoeb]

Well I'll be damned...

Sounds interesting. I wonder if the zest might not make an interesting cordial for gimlets that might taste significantly different from my house made straight lime cordial (to which I already add Kaffir Lime leaves for a nice limey bass note) to be worthy of experimentation?

[pastrygirl]

Well I'll be damned...

Sounds interesting. I wonder if the zest might not make an interesting cordial for gimlets that might taste significantly different from my house made straight lime cordial (to which I already add Kaffir Lime leaves for a nice limey bass note) to be worthy of experimentation?

Y'know, I was thinking I should offer to share with the bartenders. Kaffir lime margarita?

How do you make lime cordial?

[Tri2Cook]

I contacted my wholesale rep and it was about $15 for a 10lb bag, so I'm going to get a bag to play with. I'll report back.

I don't have any specific suggestions, I've never had access to fresh kaffir limes, but I hope you're as stubborn as I am and won't be swayed by words like "very sour" and "incredibly bitter". Those are just qualities to balance or twist into a usable form... I'm interested in seeing what you come up with.

[JAZ]

Well I'll be damned...

Sounds interesting. I wonder if the zest might not make an interesting cordial for gimlets that might taste significantly different from my house made straight lime cordial (to which I already add Kaffir Lime leaves for a nice limey bass note) to be worthy of experimentation?

Y'know, I was thinking I should offer to share with the bartenders. Kaffir lime margarita?

How do you make lime cordial?

I use both the rind and the leaves in my lime cordial (my recipe is at the end of this essay, Any Other Name). I've used the entire fruit a couple of times, but I haven't found that the juice makes much difference at all -- as Patrick said, there's very little actual juice in them. The rind has a funky bitterness (in a good way) that the leaves don't have, and lacks the hint of citronella that's in the leaves. I think the rind and leaves complement each other nicely -- when I've made my cordial with just the leaves, it's less complex.

[pastrygirl]

I use both the rind and the leaves in my lime cordial (my recipe is at the end of this essay, Any Other Name). I've used the entire fruit a couple of times, but I haven't found that the juice makes much difference at all -- as Patrick said, there's very little actual juice in them. The rind has a funky bitterness (in a good way) that the leaves don't have, and lacks the hint of citronella that's in the leaves. I think the rind and leaves complement each other nicely -- when I've made my cordial with just the leaves, it's less complex.

Thanks, I'll try the recipe. I attempted a sort of marmalade today, it came out OK, not sure what I could do with it. Flavor macaron filling? I also want to use the zest in my next batch of lemon curd.

[KatieLoeb]

My recipe for lime cordial is in RecipeGullet HERE

I usually cut the limes in half and then core them out with a grapefruit knife. I can cut the lime rinds into pieces more easily and then put the lime flesh through an elbow squeezer to get the last bits of juice out to add to the recipe.

Edited November 5, 2011 by KatieLoeb (log)

[pastrygirl]

Thanks Katie.

If anyone really really wants kaffir limes of their own, they are vaialable online: http://www.ripetoyou.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&view=wrapper&Itemid=90

Whenever there is a new exotic citrus, these guys seem to have grown it. Citron, calamondin, limequats, bergamot...

[patrickamory]

In NYC, they can usually be found fresh at Kalustyan and Eataly, and in season at Bangkok Center Grocery and the Thai produce stand on Bayard just west of Mott. Out of season BCG has frozen ones... but I've found that Kalustyan has them fresh nearly year-round. $1.75 each there.

[KatieLoeb]

pastrygirl:

That cordial recipe is specifically designed to be the homemade and improved version of Rose's Lime Cordial. It's meant for mixing with booze and is dialed a bit tart accordingly. Not sure if it would be useful for pastry applications unless it were for lubricating the pastry chef with a gimlet or two.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

[pastrygirl]

Follow up... they are pretty intense and tricky to use - just hard to find a balance with the unique flavor. I used the zest of two in a 3 quart batch of lemon curd and that was about right. Both the chef and I tried passing them off to the bartender, who also found them too strong in initial experiments. But he tried again today, and made me a dark & stormy with a wedge of kaffir lime in it - maybe muddled? - that was quite nice. The flavor was there and added a nice limey bitter component to the drink, but it didn't overpower or linger beyond its welcome.