Key Lime Pie Recipes

Key Lime Juice

Key Lime Pie is filled with a tangy custard made out of Key lime juice, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, and sugar. The pie is named after the small Key limes which can be found all over the Florida Keys. The original Conch type utilizes the egg whites to create a meringue topping. Although their thorns cause them to be less tractable, and their thin yellow skin much more spoilable, key limes will be more tart and fragrant as compared to the common Persian limes available all year long in the majority of U.S. supermarkets.

Key lime juice, distinct from regular lime juice, is a pale yellow. The filling in Key lime pie is likewise yellow, mainly as a result of the egg yolks. Therefore if your pie looks green, it isn't authentic.

During mixing, a chemical reaction involving the condensed milk and the acidic lime juice takes place that causes the filling to become thick naturally without requiring baking. Many early recipes for Key lime pie never instructed the baker to bake the pie, instead depending on the chemical reaction called souring which produced the appropriate consistency of the filling. Today, however, in the interest of safety because of the consumption of raw eggs, these pies are typically baked for a short period of time. The baking also thickens the texture more than just the reaction.

The first recipe for key lime pie was recorded in the 1930s in the Key West, Florida region. Sponge fishermen spent many continuous days on their fishing boats, and stored their food aboard, including dietary essentials like canned milk, limes and eggs. Key lime pie is made with canned sweetened condensed milk, since fresh milk was not a common commodity in the Florida Keys before modern refrigerated distribution methods. Also sponge fishermen on the sea did not have access to an oven, and therefore, the original recipe for Key lime pie would not call for cooking the mix of lime, milk, and eggs either.

Florida Key Lime Pie

INGREDIENTS:

1 can sweetened condensed milk
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons lime juice

PREPARATION:

Mix all ingredients well. Pour into an 8- or 9-inch prepared graham cracker pie crust. Serve ice cold, but not frozen.

key lime pies Lime Meringue Pie

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup Key lime juice (or regular lime juice)
1 drop green food coloring (optional)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
1 (6 ounce) prepared graham cracker crumb crust
Lime slices for garnish (optional)

PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In medium saucepan, stir together 1 cup sugar and the cornstarch. Stir in water and egg yolks until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils.

Reduce heat and cook 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in lime juice and food coloring, if desired, until well-blended. Set aside.

In small mixing bowl, beat egg whites with cream of tartar at high speed until foamy. Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are glossy and stand in soft peaks. (Rub just a bit of meringue between thumb and forefinger to feel if sugar has dissolved.) Beat in vanilla extract, if desired. Pour hot lime filling into crust. Spread meringue over hot filling, starting with small amounts at edges and sealing to crust all around. Cover pie with remaining meringue, spreading evenly in attractive swirls.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until peaks are lightly browned. Cool at room temperature. Garnish with lime slices, if desired.

Microwave directions: Prepare graham cracker crust in 8-inch glass pie pan, using your own recipe.

In 1-quart liquid microwave-safe measure or bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar and the cornstarch. Stir in water and egg yolks until smooth. Cook on high power, stirring every 2 minutes, about 6 minutes, or until mixture boils. Stir in lime juice and food coloring, if desired, until well-blended. Set aside.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar, sugar and vanilla, if desired, as above. Pour hot lime filling into prepared crust. Spread meringue over hot filling as above. Cook on high power, rotating quarter turn every minute, until tip of knife inserted horizontally into side comes out clean, about 3 to 3 1/2 minutes. Cool at room temperature. Garnish with lime slices, if desired.