Classic Key Lime Pie

  • Key Lime PieI have yet to meet someone who doesn’t like key lime pie.  Think about it.  Have you ever heard someone say “yeah, I just don’t like key lime pie”?  (If so, these are likely the same people who prefer their brownies cakey and fluffy.  It’s best to not associate with these unsavory types.)  (Normal) people go all crazy for key lime pie, especially after a gluttonous steak dinner when the server tells you it’s their signature dessert or whatever.

    So let’s get cracking.  Once you get past the task of juicing 1,200 little limes, it’s really an easy dessert to make.  I tend to make them in little tart pans (like pictured), but I don’t know why because it’s just more work.  Throw your crumbs in a big tart pan, press ’em in and bake them for a bit, and then add your limey-sugary-eggy mixture and bake until set.  Other than adding a huge plop of whipped cream (real whipped cream, I implore you!) on top, the pie is good to go.

    Oh- and one thing- you can’t make or serve key lime pie unless you say it with a southern accent… key lime pah… say it now.  There.

    CLASSIC GRAHAM CRUST:

    5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

    1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

    2 tablespoons sugar

    FILLING:

    1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz.)

    4 large egg yolks

    1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh key lime juice (not regular lime juice, sorry)

    TOPPING:

    3/4 cup heavy cream

    1 tablespoon confectioners’ sugar

    1. Key Lime Pie CrustsPreheat oven to 375°.
    2. In a medium bowl, melt butter (in microwave in 15 second increments) and then stir in graham crumbs and sugar.  (Mixture will resemble wet sand.)  Press crumbs evenly into bottom and sides of a 9″ tart pan (with removable bottom if possible), or into 6 smaller tart pans/pie plates.  Bake the tart shell for 5 minutes- just to toast it a tad.  (See picture at right.)
    3. In a (clean) medium bowl, whisk sweetened condensed milk with egg yolks and key lime juice until well combined.  Pour into slightly baked graham tart shell, and bake for 15 minutes (slightly less if making baby key lime pies).  Place on a cooling rack to set (it will firm up as it cools), then chill in the fridge for several hours.  Remove sides and bottom from tart pan (carefully) and place on a serving plate.
    4. In a medium bowl, beat whipping cream with confectioners’ sugar until stiff peaks form (scraping sides of bowl at least once while beating).  Spread over chilled tart, and enjoy.

     Tips:

    • Key Lime Pie CoolingNo tart pan?  No problem.  Use a pie plate and just serve like a normal pie.
    • Feeling lazy?  Use a prepared graham crust instead.  Sometimes life gets the best of you, what can you say?
    • Feeling creative?  Throw a bunch of gingersnap cookies in the food processor to make 1 1/4 cups of crumbs, and create a ginger crust instead of a graham one.  Interesting.
    • Lime, lime and more lime.  Why not zest a few of the key limes and add to your lime/yolk/milk mixture?  Or use it to sprinkle on top of the finished pie jsut before serving.
    • Key lime?  Yes, it really does make a difference… BUT with that being said, I’m not a citrus snob (nor should you be), so if regular limes are all you can get- then regular limes it’ll be!
    • A note on fresh whipped cream:  Please use the real stuff, not the stuff from a can, box or tub… you deserve it.  Use chilled beaters and a chilled bowl if you want the cream to cooperate better while you’re beating it… and be careful to never over beat (or it will clump, as it’s on its way to becoming butter, really).  And as for the sugar- skip it if you’d like.  Freshly whipped cream is just fine on its own.
    • Key LimesPlanning on keeping this in the fridge for a while?  Just make sure you cover it and keep the whipped cream off until you plan to serve.  (The bigger question is why you’d be keeping in the fridge uneaten for anything more than a day??)
    • Enjoy!

     

     

     

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    August 11th, 2012 | More Sweets Please | No Comments | Tags:

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