My First Key Lime Pie

This post is one of my most viewed and it is the perfect, easy dessert for a hot summer day. Since we are driving back to Phoenix today, it is a good time to share this oldie but goodie.

I have never made a key lime pie….ever.  I did try my hand at Lemon Meringue once and it was a total disaster.  We were at Ranch Market this the weekend. They had key limes for $0.99 a lb. and I couldn’t resist buying a big bag of them. Remember, key limes are the very small and yellowish-green.

Though the limes I use in this recipe are more green, the produce manager assures me these are key limes.

There are quite a few different recipes for key lime pie~~with and without eggs.  The recipe I select is from Allrecipe because it is customer rated with 5 stars. There are just a few ingredients you need for this pie~graham crackers, sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, butter, sugar and cinnamon.

The Crust

You can use either a store-bought graham cracker crust or it’s very easy to make your own from scratch.

Here’s how to make the crust. For 1 1/2 cups of finely ground graham crackers, I use approximately 1.5 packages of graham crackers.  Using the Cuisinart, it takes a few seconds to pulverize the crackers into crumbs. You can also put the crackers into a Ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to crush them.

Has anyone else noticed how small graham crackers have become?  I actually googled it and there have been numerous complaints on the reduction in size and diminished taste.  Graham crackers were a favorite childhood treat, but now they seem a bit skimpy. I digress…

Back to the pie. Add sugar and melted butter to the crushed graham cracker crumbs.  Cinnamon is optional but I include it in this recipe. Mix well.

Press the mixture into a 9 inch pie plate~~I use a small measuring cup to tap the crumbs down.

Due to the butter, the crumbs stay in place and adhere easily to the side of the pie pan/dish. As a side note, my favorite pie plates are Pyrex. There are so many sizes to choose from but here is a link to pie plates.

Bake it at 375 degrees for 7 minutes.  Cool before adding the filling.

The Filling

To make the key lime filling, squeeze the tiny fellas until you get 3/4 cup of key lime juice. It takes approximately 19 limes (14 or so limes = 1 lb.) and fortunately my strong son did all the squeezing.

This is the BEST hand-held juicer from Zulay that works for both lemons and limes. Honestly, I use this kitchen tool ALL the time.

The lime zest is an important ingredient in this recipe as it helps step up the citrus flavor. By the way, I LOVE this zester by Microplane. The handle comes in all different colors. By far, this is the best zester I have ever owned. Not only do I use it for lemons and limes, but for grating fresh nutmeg too.

You can use a stand mixer or hand-held one, or a good strong arm will do to mix the sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice and lime zest together.

Pour the filling into a COOL crust and bake for ONLY A FEW MINUTES.  I was so surprised that this didn’t require more time in the oven (5-8 minutes).  DO NOT BROWN!

Here is what it looked like after I took it out of the oven. Note the tiny pinhole bubbles just on the surface.  Chill pie thoroughly before serving.

The Topping

You can make your own whipped cream using this professional whipped cream dispenser or purchase a can of Redi-Whip. Someone once gave me a whipped cream dispenser as a gift and it’s the only way we make whipped cream. All you do is pour in fresh whipping cream, sweeten (or not) with confectioner’s sugar and use a small nitrogen (N20) cartridge. Within seconds, you have whipped cream.

There are several varieties of whipped cream dispensers at various price points. Since we seem to use ours all the time, we have a more expensive one here.

Top the pie with fresh whipped cream and lime slices.

If there is any pie left, refrigerate it until someone comes looking for a second piece!

Bon Appetit! Have a wonderful day!

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Here is the recipe for Key Lime Pie by Allrecipe:SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave