by Patty Young
My family requested ceviche again, so I went to the store in search of regular limes (what they call Persian Limes) but they were fresh out and instead they had bags of Key Limes, so I figured what the heck, right? Well, I had so many of them leftover after making my ceviche and even a citrus punch that I will share on another installment of Cook It. Blog It! that I thought it was about time I learned to make one of our all-time favorite desserts: Key Lime Pie.
Key Lime Pie Recipe
What you need
Key Limes (lots of them!)
One 14-Ounce Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
3 Large Eggs (yolks only)
Pie Crust (I used a pre-made shortbread crust but generally people use graham cracker crusts, and you can certainly make your own crust if you are feeling extra crafty)
How to make it
The first thing you need to do is grate enough limes to make 2 teaspoons of lime zest. Believe me, it will be easier to grate them before you juice them! I grated about 10 of them to get this amount. Oh, and check out this nifty grater from IKEA. It comes with its own little storage container... lid & all. LOVE IT!
Next, you need 1/2 cup of fresh key lime juice. I squeezed 21 limes to get this amount! If you have a juicer, this will be a much easier, less painful and quicker task, but it took me about 20 minutes by hand.... eeek! Oh, and yes, in that picture, you can see that the pulp and seeds are still in the juice... don't worry, I strained the juice before adding it to the mixture (sometimes I do things out of order for no particular reason!)
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees now.
Next, you need to beat the 3 egg yolks until creamy. I did about 3 - 4 minutes on high. And then add the condensed milk and continue mixing on high for another 3 - 4 minutes. Finally, lower your speed and add the 1/2 cup of lime juice and the 2 teaspoons of lime peel (zest) and mix until even.
Pour mixture onto your pie crust and bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
While the pie was baking, I made some whipped topping with the leftover egg whites and some confectioners sugar. I guess it's more of a meringue, but since this is the kind of thing that needs to be eaten right away (and the pie needs to cool for a long time) I ended up pitching it.
Your key lime pie will need to cool on a rack and then chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before serving. If you try to slice it before it's completely chilled, you will end up with a gooey mess... believe me.
Finishing Touches:
I topped mine with a dollop of whipped cream and garnished it with a fresh raspberry for a bit of color pop. I also did a little plate decoration รก la expensive French patisserie using this condensed milk in a squeeze bottle (no, I didn't buy this for this purpose... I always keep this at home!) :)
Enjoy! The pie was tart & delicious!
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