Planning to celebrate Mardi Gras this year? Even if you can’t make it to New Orleans or Rio de Janeiro, you can still get together and eat traditional Cajun foods and colorful desserts. The official colors of Mardi Gras are Green for Faith, Purple for Justice, and Gold for Power. This year I wanted to make a colorful dessert that was easy, since, like most of you, I’m short on time. I came up with the following Mardi Gras Pie, which is a cream cheese pie swirled with lemon, lime, and grape curd (easy in the microwave) in an easy vanilla wafer and pecan crust. Not only is this pie festive and easy, it can also be made a few days ahead. It can also be frozen.


10 Servings

Crust:
5 ounces vanilla wafer cookies
1 cup pecans
2 tablespoons butter

Filling:
12 ounces softened cream cheese, (1 1/2 8 ounce packages)
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks

Lemon Curd:
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 ounces lemon juice
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons butter
yellow gel paste food coloring

Lime Curd:
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 ounces lime juice
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons butter
green paste food coloring

Grape Curd:
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons frozen grape juice concentrate
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons butter
purple gel paste food coloring

Sweetened whipped cream, if desired

1. Crust: Preheat oven to 350°. Place the vanilla wafers and pecans in the bowl of a food processor. Process until finely chopped. With the motor running, pour in the butter; process until well mixed. Press the mixture into a 9" pie dish. Bake 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool thoroughly.
2. Filling: Mix the cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth. In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
3. Lemon, Lime, and Grape Curd: For each flavor place the egg yolks, sugar, juice (or juice concentrate), and salt in a large microwave-safe (preferably glass) container. Whisk until smooth. Add the butter, microwave one minute; whisk to incorporate the butter, and return to the microwave. Microwave 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the microwave, whisk until smooth, add a few drops of gel food coloring to each, cover with plastic wrap, and let cool thoroughly.
4. Assembly: Spread half of the cream cheese filling over the bottom of the cooled pie shell. Drop dollops of each of the curds over the top of the filling. Cover with the remaining filling and spread to the edges. Drop the remaining curd over the top. Run a knife through the curds, marbling the colors together. Cover with plastic wrap and chill thoroughly. Serve as is or with sweetened whipped cream.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 602 Calories from Fat 384
Percent Total Calories From: Fat 64% Protein 4% Carb. 32%

Nutrient Amount per Serving % Daily

Total Fat 43 g
Saturated Fat 21 g
Cholesterol 224 mg
Sodium 942 mg
Total Carbohydrate 48 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Sugars 17 g
Protein 6 g

Vitamin A 28% Vitamin C 11% Calcium 0% Iron 8%