Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Key Lime Pie

For writing group meeting, I like to offer some sort of treat afterwards for those who could come in person. This last time it was key lime pie. And oooh, it was tasty...


Key Lime Pie*

Crust:
- 2  graham cracker crumbs (not quite two packs)**
- 3 Tbs dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I think you could safely up this to 1 1/2 tsp)
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 6 Tbs salted butter, melted

Filling:
- 4 large egg yolks, room temperature
- Finely grated rind of 1 lime
- 1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 c freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 5 limes)
- Whipped cream (optional)

1. Combine crumbs, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in melted butter. Press mixture into a 9-inch glass pie plate. Crust will be thick. Refrigerate for at least 15 min. (I just left mine in until I had the filling done.)

2. Preheat oven to 350 F.

3. Combine egg yolks and lime rind in a mixing bowl. Beat with a mixer on high speed 8 min.*** The eggs should be pale yellow and fluffy at this point.

4. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk and beat 7 min, or until fluffy.

5. Add lime juice, beating well, about 2 minutes.

6. Pour filling into chilled pie shell. Bake about 12 min, until filling is set. Refrigerate 3 hours. Top with whipped cream, if using, before serving. (I skipped the whipped cream.) Serves 8ish.

*Recipe slightly modified from here.

** Pro tip: I used my food processor to make graham cracker crumbs. I'm not sure that it's actually faster than using a Ziploc bag and a rolling pin, but it was definitely less effort. Plus I have to use that thing every chance I can because it's mostly only good for grinding up dry things like Oreos and graham crackers.

*** If you have a stand mixer like a KitchenAid, use it. I don't think it would have worked in my Bosch; there wasn't enough filling for the bowl size, but it was really boring to hold a hand mixer for 17 minutes. Worth it, but boring.

If you like lime, this pie is phenomenal. The cinnamon/nutmeg in the crust really adds a lot and kicks things up a notch. Plus it's pretty easy to make. So what are you waiting for? Go make it right now!

1 comment:

  1. I made a key lime pie last week and mine was not nearly so work intensive; I pretty much just mixed stuff up with a spoon and dumped it in crushed graham crackers mixed with butter (I did do the rolling pin method for the crackers. It's kind of satisfying). I think next time I'll try this one though and see if all the extra beating makes a big difference. Also I heartily recommend the whipped cream, just because it gives a nice mild balance to the tartness of the pie.

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