Key Lime Pie
Friday, 2 June 2006
For Mom’s birthday last week, I made my first Key Lime Pie, and it came out perfectly. I love them rather tart, and this recipe, with both the juice and zest, nails the flavor. The tiny green zest bits give the filling an interesting green-dotted yellow color that may put off some diners (not at my table!), so cover it up with whipped cream!
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Key Lime Pie
Use key limes or Mexican limones for best flavor. This is a classic recipe. The multiple teaspoons of zest really make it exceptional, but only for palates desirous of sharp citrus flavors trumping the sweetness.
This is a morning or next-day recipe, so it has time to cool thoroughly in the refrigerator.
It’ll take a while to do the squeezing and zesting, so do it first. Then preheat oven to 350°F.
Crust:
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (less than one pack)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Use food processor to turn crackers into crumbs, and mix crumbs with sugar. You can use cinnamon-and-sugar topped grahams for a subtle change in the crust flavor, but decrease the sugar by a teaspoon so the crust doesn’t fuse. Add the melted butter (microwave makes melting easy) and mix to thoroughly incorporated dry ingredients, then press into 9-inch pie plate (glass is best).
Pop into oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes until slightly browned. Remove, leaving oven on.
Filling:
- 1 13-14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk, can be no-fat
- 4 egg yokes, large
- 1/2 cup key lime juice
- 2-4 teaspoons key lime zest, finely grated
Begin by whisking milk and yokes together (by hand is fine). Then add juice and zest, whisking until the mixture is homogeneous. It will thicken a bit as the juice reacts.
Pour into graham crust (doesn’t have to be cooled), and bake about 15 minutes until filling is set, although center can be slightly jiggly.
Cool at least 4 hours or overnight. You can top it with meringue (using up the egg whites), whipped cream, or eat it plain. Otherwise, use leftover egg whites in scrambled eggs or another dish.