Soo many key lime pie recipes to choose from! Baked, not baked, fluffy, icebox, sweetened condensed milk or not, homemade graham cracker crust, store bought graham cracker crust (NEVER!), key limes, bottled key lime juice, meringue topping, whipped cream topping etc.
In part it depends on your taste, but.... I'm here to tell you, I have been making this pie for forty plus years with more accolades than I can count! This will be the best Key Lime Pie recipe you will ever make or taste! Just ask our friend Rick from Johnson Avenue. At a not too distant dinner party (before face masks were the thing) he came back for thirds, then with his head down in mock shame, for fourths! Luckily I made enough to indulge his new addiction.
So this one's for Rick!
List of Ingredients
Crust
1 Box Graham Crackers (plain, not cinnamon or honey)
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
Two 9 inch pie plates
Custard
8 large eggs
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup key lime juice
1/4 cup grated lime rind
dash salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
Photo from original Southern Living 1970s
Topping
2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla
crushed pistachios
Directions:
FYI this is a make ahead recipe so start the process the day before you want to serve! And its easy to use half the recipe for one pie.
The Graham Cracker Crust
Preheat Oven to 375 degrees
Homemade pie crust is always better than store bought, whether for a flour crust or graham cracker crust. If you are going to the trouble to make a pie from scratch, you will reap the rewards of a homemade crust!
This recipe makes two 9 inch crusts, enough graham cracker crumbs for two 9 inch pie plates. There are three ingredients - 2 1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs; 2/3 cup Unsalted Butter Melted; and 1/2 cup firmly packed Light Brown Sugar.
Place graham crackers in a gallon size plastic bag, one wrapped cracker package at a time - there will be 3-4 packages in a box. Crush with a rolling pin (or other available kitchen tool) until you have equal sized crumbs, measure out 2 1/2 cups into a bowl.
Add 2/3 cup melted butter and 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar to the bowl. Mix until crumbs are fully coated. Might as well use your hands since you will be needing them to press into the pie plates.
Divide crumbs between two 9 inch pie plates and press evenly to coat bottom and up sides. Pressing with a measuring cup helps get it even, then use your fingers to even out the edges. Bake the crusts at 375 degrees for 6 minutes. Cool while making the custard.
The Custard
Preheat oven to 300 degrees
Quick discussion on key lime juice. Using real key limes is the ideal. Key limes are smaller and have a more bitter and acidic flavor than the regular limes we are used to. I have used key limes, regular limes and bottled key lime juice all at some point and they were all acceptable. The best Key Lime Juice is from Key West, Nellie and Joes.
You will need a double boiler, where one pot sits on top of another one, with water in the bottom pot just touching the top pot. Some of you may have gotten a double boiler in your set of pots and pans as a college graduation gift, a wedding present, or a house warming gift. I did not. For those of us who do not have the official double boiler it is easy to assemble. Find a pot or metal mixing bowl that sits comfortably on top of a bit larger pot. Fill the bottom pot with water up the bottom of the top pot.
Lightly beat the 8 large eggs with a hand whisk until a bit foamy. Place in top of the double boiler with the sugar, key lime juice, grated rind and dash of salt. Bring the water in the double boiler to a boil, whisking constantly, then reduce the heat to low. Cook whisking constantly until egg mixture thickens to the consistency of pudding. This takes a while, 10-15 minutes depending on your heat, so be patient and keep whisking. When thickened, add the butter and continue to cook and whisk as the butter melts and the mixture continues to thicken.
Pour the mixture into the cooled graham cracker crusts and place in a 300 degree preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until the mixture is set. Watch for a jiggly center as you pull the oven rack out. If the custard still looks wet and jiggles, cook a few more minutes.
Remove the pies from the oven and let cool on wire racks or a cool stove top. After cooled for a couple hours, cover the custard with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 8 hours. Or overnight until your dinner party the next day is fine. The pie keeps nicely in the fridge for a few days.
To finish off the pie, whip the whipping cream until foamy, then start adding the powdered sugar, whipping until soft peaks form. Stir in the vanilla if using. Feel free to also add less sugar, it is a very sweet pie!
To serve, top each piece with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkle of crushed pistachios. Enjoy your compliments!
FYI - Next time you visit Key West try the frozen Key Lime Pie on a Stick! It is a creamy, tart, chocolate covered treat! And for you Minnesotans, they have had them at the Minnesota State Fair the past couple of years. Fried green tomatoes and Key Lime Pie on a Stick! I'm ready. Maybe in 2021!