Where did May go? Oh yeah, there was some traveling for work. And then there was some vacationing. And now, here we are in June. Okay, moving on.

The dude I am married to loves key lime pie. He also loves the Flight of the Concords. So, in the spirit of the official kick-off weekend of summer, I came up with a lime bar recipe fit to take to the Flight of the Concords’ performance at the Hollywood Bowl last weekend.

This recipe is inspired by a key lime pie recipe from Williams Sonoma. I say inspired because I made so many changes to it that the recipe really is my own. For starters, I didn’t use key limes because I couldn’t find them. So, I guess the following is really a recipe for Persian lime squares with a white chocolate and pistachio streusel.

We’ll begin with the crust. Limes are pretty powerful little suckers; much more than lemons if you ask me. The pucker factor always has me attempting to balance out their tartness with other flavors. In this recipe, I started with the traditional graham cracker crust and to it added about a cup of shelled pistachios and a teaspoon of lime zest. Because, well, we all know how I feel about citrus zest.

Pulse it all together in the food processor with some caster sugar until the ingredients resemble course sand.

Add some melted butter, mix and press into a buttered 8” pan lined with parchment paper. I like to use the bottom of a measuring cup to pack down the crust. Now, into the oven it goes.

Meanwhile, it’s time to put together the custard. This recipe is dairy based and calls for sweetened condensed milk. I plan to experiment with a lime-curd (non-dairy) recipe later in the summer. Whisk together egg yolks and lime zest. Add in the lime juice and sweetened condensed milk and whisk, whisk, whisk.

About now the crust should be ready. Add the custard to the crust (unlike my lemon tart recipe, this custard will already be thick and should settle easily into the pan). And back into the oven.

It’s done when the custard no longer jiggles.

Now, you could stop here and let the bars rest in the fridge for two or three hours. But, remember my need to balance-out the tartness of the lime? I have one more flavor to add: white chocolate. Using the grind setting on your food processor, grind together about four ounces of white chocolate with another half cup or so of shelled pistachios (okay, I’ll come clean here, I didn’t do the pistachio part because I was running late, needed to get the bars into the fridge and so didn’t take the time to shell additional pistachios. Just pretend they are there).

Sprinkle the streusel over the still warm bars and THEN into the fridge for at least three hours (really, this is better done over night). Once the bars are chilled, carefully cut into squares.

And then, it’s business time. Signing off—the Hiphopapottmus.

Persian Lime Bars with a White Chocolate-Pistachio Streusel

Crust:

• 1 ½ C crushed graham crackers

• 1 C shelled pistachios

• 3 TBS sugar

• 1 t lime zest

• 5 TBS melted butter

Custard:

• 7 large egg yolks

• 4 TBS lime zest

• 1 C lime juice (Persian, key lime, whatever)

• 2 14 oz cans sweetened condensed milk

Streusel

• 4 oz white chocolate

• ½ C shelled pistachios (more or less to taste)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and line with parchment paper an 8” baking pan. In a food processor grind graham crackers. Add in pistachios, sugar and lime zest. Grind until mixture resembles course sand. Remove to a medium bowl and add melted butter. Combine until mixture resembles wet sand and butter is uniformly combined throughout. Press mixture into prepared pan and bake for 5-10 minutes.

In large bowl, whisk together egg yolks and lime zest. Whisk- in condensed milk and lime juice. When crust is browned, carefully add custard mixture and return to the over for 25-30 minutes or until custard sets up.

In food processor, grind together white chocolate and pistachios until both ingredients are to desired size. Once the custard mixture comes out of the oven, sprinkle streusel on top and immediately refrigerate for at least three hours. Cut, and enjoy.