Key Lime Cheesecake Cups
Sweetened condensed milk, lime, and crushed graham crackers layered in a cup at camp.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 3.5 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 6 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 0 min
- total time
- 10 min
- water
- 60 ml cold
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dessert
- No cook
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- Eat in the bag
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Sweetened condensed milk | 1 can (14 oz) | the can is heavy; this is a car-camping dessert |
|---|---|---|
| Lime juice | 1/2 cup | bottled juice, or 4 limes if you are carrying them anyway |
| Powdered whole milk | 1/2 cup | |
| Instant vanilla pudding mix | 2 tbsp | replaces the whipped cream |
| Granulated sugar | 1 tbsp | |
| Vanilla extract | 1/2 tsp | |
| Graham crackers | 1 sleeve | crushed at home |
| Lime zest | 1 tsp | dried, optional |
Method
- Crush the graham crackers in their bag at home until they are coarse crumbs. Bring the bag.
- In camp, stir the condensed milk and lime juice together in a bowl or the pot. It thickens on contact. Keep stirring until there are no streaks.
- In a wide-mouth bottle, shake the powdered milk, pudding mix, sugar, vanilla, and 60 ml of cold water for thirty seconds. Let it stand two minutes to set.
- Fold about half the thickened milk mixture into the lime base. Do not beat it; you are keeping air in it.
- Layer in cups or mugs: crumbs, filling, crumbs, filling. Top with the rest of the set milk and a pinch of zest.
- Eat within the hour, or sooner if it is hot out.
The chemistry does the work. Acid from the lime curdles the proteins in sweetened condensed milk into a thick custard, no heat and no eggs. That is why the original bakes for so little time, and why it does not need to bake at all.
The changes here are about the fridge. Heavy cream will not survive a day in a pack, so instant pudding mix and powdered whole milk stand in for the whipped topping; the pudding starch sets it firm enough to spoon. Everything else is shelf-stable, but the condensed milk is dairy once the can is open. Eat it the same hour or keep it on ice.
Packing
Crumbs in one bag, the dry powders premixed in a second. The can and the juice bottle ride in the food crate. Bring four mugs or reuse the same one four times.
Variations
- A cooler and thirty minutes of chilling firms the layers up considerably.
- Swap the lime juice for lemon and it becomes an icebox pie instead.
- No graham crackers: crushed shortbread or vanilla wafers layer the same way.
https://mealswithmaria.site/no-bake-key-lime-pie-cups