Wednesday, April 23, 2008

My quest

6 years ago I spent the summer living in Logan, UT.

I hardly knew a soul in the whole town and this was before I realized that I love being outdoorsy. I had no air conditioning and lived in a free-to-me, 20 year old dorm room with 3 other girls who all spoke different Asian languages.

The result? I had a pretty low key summer.

The highlight of the summer, and the brightest memory from those 3 months was a cup of limeade.

One of the advisors who I worked for had a beautiful Brazilian wife who made the the most fantastic cup of limeade. The limeade of my dreams. It was creamy and cold and sweet and tangy all at the same time.

After returning from my lonely sojourn I attempted to duplicate the experience. I failed. I could never figure out the secret combination.




I really want to serve this sweet creamy drink at the ear doctor's party in a few weeks, so I decided to turn to the Internet for help. In my quest I found recipe after recipe that described limeade as a mixture of lime juice, sugar and water. This just ISN'T the same thing.


Then I stumbled on this recipe:




INGREDIENTS
2 limes
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons sweetened
condensed milk
3 cups water
ice

DIRECTIONS
Wash limes thoroughly. Cut off the ends and slice into eight wedges. Place limes in a blender with the sugar, sweetened condensed milk, water, and ice. Blend in an electric blender, pulsing 5 times. Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove rinds. Serve over ice.



Now we're getting somewhere! The only thing is that the comments say you have to serve it immediately or it gets really bitter (because of the lime rind?). I don't want to have to make this stuff the day of our party. Also, I don't really want to make it a blended drink.



So here is my question, mixed drink makers: Do you think that if I just cut all the rind off I could mix it all together and serve it unblended?

12 comments:

Maggie said...

I don't think it's the rind. My guess is that it's probably the acidity of the lime mixing with the milk. Acid+milk generally curdles the milk if left to it's own devices.

Jenny said...

I'd guess similar that you create a sour milk with the combination of citrus and milk. The rind probably adds quite a but of citrus zing to the drink. The scientist in me says to make a small batch and see what happens if you leave it overnight...

Heather said...

Oh Yum. I'm finding all the same recipes as yours. It sounds and looks a lot like the Brazilian lemonade at Tucanos. Have you had that before? So delicious. AND you can do it with other fruit as well. That could be fun, custom drinks (ha, I mean for people who never drink alcohol. I don't really know if custom drinks is the norm for most parties.)

Chastity said...

Sure, just leave out the rind. You should do a trial run and see how that goes first.

Robyn said...

Oh my son-in-law went to Brazil on his mission! I'll ask him if he knows of a recipe that would keep!

poodle said...

i found this recipe a few weeks ago, and it's FABULOUS!!!

TLA said...

My grandfathers second wife was from Sao Paulo and made this when I was a child. It really is delicious!

I am in the restaurant business, and would advise against making it ahead of time because the lime juice will cause the lime juice to curdle.

Im sure you dont drink alcohol, but there is an infamous drink traditionally given to 21-year olds on their birthday called a "Cement Mixer" that contains Roses Lime Juice (a non-alcoholic, sweetened lime juice) and Baileys Irish Cream which is a sweet-cream and Irish whiskey based liqueur. The point of this drink is to curdle and turn chunky in the mouth, causing the birthday drinker to become ill. Im sorry, TMI...and I dont mean to offend any non-drinkers! :)

The lime zest is part of what gives the great flavor, so I would keep that part of the recipe. I have a degree in microbiology, and second geogjen above in her "scientist in me" approach. My recommendation for an experiment in making it ahead of time would be to substitute soy creamer (such as Silk) for the condensed milk and see if that would prevent curdling.

As an added bonus, your limeade would then be vegan!

TLA said...

Ack! I meant that the lime juice will cause the condensed milk to curdle, sorry!

Alicia said...

When I lived in Costa Rica I drank something similar and it really is delicious but the key is definitely the milk and blending it is what makes it so frothy! I would agree that making it ahead will cause the milk to curdle and could potentially send you & the ear doctor back to the world of GI ickiness... Here's a recipe for a virgin mojito from Food & Wine that looks quite refreshing - you could probably make the lime/mint /sugar mixture in advance and then just add ginger ale at the end...
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/virgin-mojito

Kylene said...

Hmm! I'm gonna try this limeade recipe...

Unknown said...

It's the lime juice and the milk...lemon juice won't do it, but lime will. When left for a while, or shaken briskly, lime and milk will curdle like month old buttermilk...this phenomena can also be replicated with a shot of Bailey's and some lime juice and a good head shake (not that I would know much about that). I suggest that if you make it, serve it immediately!

Annie said...

ok, so did you make it? How did it turn out? Inquiring minds want to know!