Midnight Margaritas, Cheesecake & Practical Magic
For #Spooktober Day 13 I rewatch the most iconic witch movie ever made, Practical Magic. The movie, based on a novel of the same name by Alice Hoffman, is a must-see for the Halloween season. Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman bring sisters, Sally and Gillian Owens, to life and are so believable as small-town witches.
Rather than get into the plot or little-known movie facts, I decided to create a movie night dessert to honor one of my favorite movie scenes.
Midway through the movie, Gillian wakes up Sally after hearing the sound of the blender. The girls tiptoe down to the kitchen to find their aunts Frances and Jet, played by Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest, making midnight margaritas. As the four women sing and dance around the kitchen to Coconut by Harry Nilsson, you’re completely transported into a beautiful moment of joy among this group of women.
“You put de lime in de coconut, you drink 'em bot' togedder
Put de lime in de coconut, then you feel better
Put de lime in de coconut and call me in the morning”
I don’t drink alcohol so midnight margaritas was not an option for me.
But even without the alcohol, I was determined to make something that was worthy of this iconic scene. After a quick Google search, I found a recipe for Key Lime Cheesecake. I liked this particular recipe because it was served in glasses resembling a drink. The ingredient list was short and I had most of them on hand. I swapped regular limes for the key limes listed. I also added strawberries as a garnish, which was not a suggestion on the recipe but I felt like fresh fruit would cut some of the tartness. I used larger parfait glasses and layered the ingredients alternating between the crust and the filling making my dessert a little bigger than the one in the recipe.
And with a bit of magic, the lime coconut cheesecake parfait was born.
I can’t say for certain it was the dessert but for the first time my husband, Josh, fully watched the movie and enjoyed it!