We had a birthday or two come and go recently at Casa Sass, so we were due for a nice dessert. I asked John’s son, who is visiting, what he’d like, and key lime pie was the clear winner. It’s a favorite of mine as well — it makes me think of my mom, of Mexico where they grow all over, of Arizona where I used to live, not to mention key limes alone make me think of sitting on the beach under a palapa sipping a Michelada (good beer, over ice, with key limes muddled into the glass and salt on the rim). Key limes are basically fantastic in everything.
Now, I haven’t made a key lime pie in a few years, but it’s one of the easiest pies to make. Some recipes don’t even call for BAKING it! Mine does, though, even if it’s only for a little bit.
I doubled this recipe to make a deep dish pie in a deep 10″ pie shell, as an experiment. It came out GREAT! It’s the height of a nice cheesecake, but is all about the sweet/tart lime custard. I baked it for an extra 10 minutes to make up for the extra volume of filling.
Key limes (the little round golf ball limes) taste different than Persian limes (what we find in most supermarkets) and I have been told that if you substitute 1/4 of the juice for lemon juice, with 3/4 of the juice Persian lime juice, you can come out with a similar flavor to actual key limes if you can’t find them locally. I squeezed about 10-15 key limes per regular 9 inch pie to make a half cup of juice.
Also, do not adjust your eyeballs — key lime pie is supposed to be a buttery yellow color, not green. The lime juice is a pale color, so the pie gets its golden hue from the egg yolks in the filling! I was very lucky to have fresh, local eggs from Double R Farms, scored at the Farmers Market here in Oklahoma City.
It’s like a little taste of spring, summer, and everything good about the tropics, anytime in your kitchen. Make this, you won’t be disappointed!
- 1 Cup Graham cracker crumbs
- 3 Oz Unsalted butter
- 1/4 Cup Light brown sugar Packed
- 1/2 Cup Key lime juice If possible, FRESH SQUEEZED!
- 1 14-oz can Sweetened condensed milk I like Borden Eagle Brand
- 4 Egg yolks (Large eggs)
- 1 Tsp Lime zest, grated (Optional/Garnish)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Carefully melt butter. In a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar.
- Add melted butter to graham cracker crumb mixture and mix until it gently holds together.
- Press crust mixture into a 9" pie pan, keeping it an even thickness. To help fight shrinking crust, push some of the crust "dough" over the top rim of the pie pan.
- Put crust in the oven at 360 degrees for about 7 minutes, until the crust looks browned and toasty. Remove from oven and cool on a rack for at least 45 minutes, or until COMPLETELY cool.
- When the crust is completely cooled, mix the three remaining ingredients -- condensed milk, egg yolks, and lime juice -- in a bowl until they are combined, smooth, and relatively thick. Add half the lime zest, if desired.
- Pour this custard into the pie shell and bake in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes. The center should still be jiggly when the pie comes out of the oven.
- Refrigerate immediately, and for a total of at least three hours, giving the filling time to set completely.
- Garnish with whipped cream, lime zest, and dig in! Refrigerate leftovers right away.
For more pictures of the process, visit the blog at www.saltysassy.com.