Key Lime Pie

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from Linda a valued reader,  requesting a good key lime pie recipe.  I have never made a key lime pie before, but I was all over the challenge.  So last weekend I made a bunch of key lime pies. Some were good, some were bad, and others were interesting.  I have pieced together the best of all of them and created the ultimate Key Lime Pie.  It is over the top awesome, with just enough tartness to make it a delicious key lime pie.

The pie was topped with a little lime zest for a little added lime flavor, plus it looked pretty cool.

What is a key lime?  A key lime is a smaller variety of lime that is more tart and bitter than the common variety of lime.  Plus, it takes a bunch of them to make enough juice for a pie.  I only used freshed squeezed juice for my testing, but you can find the juice in the store.  Since I did not try the juice, I have no idea if it has been sweetened or not.  Try at your own risk.

Key Lime Pie

• • Crust
    • 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
    • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
    • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick butter) melted
  • Filling
    • 2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
    • 1 cup key lime juice
    • 2 whole eggs
    • 1 egg yolk
  • Topping
    • 1 cup heavy cream
    • 1/4 cup sugar
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    • 1 lime for zesting

The Crust

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter with your hands. Press the mixture firmly into a 9-inch pie pan, and bake until brown, about 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature before filling.

Or you can use a store bought graham cracker crust.  I will not tell anyone.

Filling

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Juice roughly 2 lbs of key limes for 1 cup of juice.  It is a lot of work, but totally worth it.  If you are having trouble finding key limes, they are usually in the exotic fruit section of the produce department.  They usually come in bags of 15-20 limes.  This should be enough for 1 cup of juice.  The juicing took a long time, but luckily Dana’s friend Kristy dropped by and was excited to do some juicing.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs.

Place the ingredients into the cooled pie shell.  Ok, I used a store bought one for this picture.  I made a lot of pies and quite honestly, it was easier.  When pouring the filling, it will come right up to the top.  We are making a huge pie, so this is just fine.  If there is just a tad too much filling, just fill the pie up to the edge of the shell.  This varies based on the size of the eggs.  Sometimes it is perfect, sometimes it is just a tad bit too much.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack till room temperature.  Roughly 45 minutes.  Then allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Topping

Whip cream until almost stiff.  Slowly add the sugar and vanilla.  Beat until the cream has medium/stiff peaks.

Spread the topping over the chilled pie.  Start by piling the whipped cream in the center of the pie and moving it towards the edges.

Zest the peel of 1 lime over the top of the pie.

Serve immediately.  You can prepare the pie without the topping up to a day in advance.  Then top with the cream right before serving.

Thanks for the email Linda.  Hopefully you enjoy this pie as much as I did.  Remember, if you have any questions about food or a recipe, drop me an email using the Ask Rex link above.