Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie is my favorite dessert! So this is one of my favorite recipes.

My family and I were in sunny Florida around the time of hurricane Irene and even she couldn't dampen the wonder of Disney. We were at the resort because my wife was attending a business conference and wanted us to join her for some rest and relaxation.

We had a blast, especially my daughter Nell whose eyes were wide open from the moment we stepped off the plane. She did have a little trouble when meeting the Disney characters at the park, but who wouldn't have trouble with a 7 foot Pluto when you're not even two years old?

Last time I was at Disney was back in the 80's when I realized my folks were never going to take me there so I decided to take them. How Disney World has changed since my last visit.

New parks and resorts have sprung up faster than you can say Donald Duck. Besides the Magic Kingdom and Epcot (which stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, by the way), there's Disney's MGM Studios, Animal Kingdom, three water parks, Downtown Disney along with new resorts like the Dixie Landing, Port Orleans, Coronado Springs, Wilderness Lodge and the Polynesian.

What do all these resorts have in common? They all include restaurants that serve my favorite dessert, Key Lime Pie. Yes, Key Lime Pie whose filling is made up of only three simple ingredients but when properly combined produce a wonderful pungent flavor. Poured into a homemade Graham Cracker crust and voila you have a dessert that even Cinderella's wicked Stepmother couldn't resist.

Quick and easy to prepare, just 30 minutes, this delicious Key Lime Pie recipe would make Winnie the Pooh forget about honey for a while.

How are Key limes different

Let me start out by explaining the difference between Key limes and your everyday supermarket variety, the Persian lime. Key limes come from the Florida Keys, thus their name, and are smaller, more yellow and contain more seeds than the green skinned Persian lime. The bad news is they're impossible to find fresh at your local supermarkets but the good news is Persian limes work just as well in this recipe.

I was recently told that key limes are yellow when ripe, not green, but the green ones will work for key lime pie. I have also been told that you can make a very good pie using key lime juice available at most supermarkets. Although it may not be quite as tasty as using real lime juice, it is a perfectly adequate substitution.

Graham Crackers - What are they?

I remember back when I was in kindergarten, we were served Graham Crackers with Milk as a snack just before we had to pull out our sleeping mats for a nap. Originally created by Reverend Sylvester Graham back in 1830, these crackers or cookies in my opinion are made from whole-wheat and sweetened with honey or molasses. Originally though of as a health food because the coarsely ground wheat flour was high in fiber.

If you don't have graham flour available to you, try substituting a mixture of white flour, wheat bran and wheat germ.

Cooking Techniques - Bake
Serves at least 8

• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (12 to 15 key limes or 3 to 4 common limes)
• 4 teaspoons grated lime zest
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 - 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• 11 graham crackers
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

It's easier to remove the lime zest from whole limes so I would start with that. Then I would cut the limes in half and squeeze out the juice being careful not to include any pits.

Process the graham crackers in a food processor or blender and then melt the butter and have it at the ready.

1. Whisk the egg yolks and lime zest together in a bowl until tinted light green. This takes about 2 minutes

2. Beat in milk, then juice and set aside at room temperature till it thickens.

3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

4. Mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar in another bowl.

5. Add butter and stir with a fork until well blended.

6. Pour this mixture into a 9-inch pie pan and press over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Try using the bottom of a measuring cup to make sure the graham cracker mixture forms a firm crust on the bottom of the pie pan.

7. Bake on the center rack for about 15 minutes until the crust is lightly brown, remove and let cool to room temperature.

8. Pour the lime filling into crust, spread evenly, and then bake for 15 minutes until the center sets, but still wiggles when shaken.

9. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature.

10. Refrigerate for at least three hours until well chilled.

Some of you might like to serve it with a whipped cream topping or a meringue topping, but I prefer keeping it simple. If the pie seems to be sticking to the pan when serving, try dipping the pan into a bowl of warm water to loosen it.

Updates: Here are a few of the comments I've received from other home cooks:

Graham Cracker Substitute

Here's a question I get asked a lot from from my friends in the UK and Australia. This one is from Emily who lives in the Yorkshire,

Is there an alternative biscuit or cracker that will work as well?

After a little research on the Internet, I have come up with these suggestions. If anyone has their own experience with graham cracker alternatives, please let me know.

Digestive biscuits, Vanilla wafers, ginger snaps, shortbread

Jennifer Arner's Suggestion

Comment: Your Key Lime pie recipe is so great (and so easy)! One of the fruit stands here had key limes 20 for $1, so I decided to make a pie despite the fact that I had never done so. A little tip I use with cheesecake crusts that makes them taste amazing: use cinnamon graham crackers with a little extra sugar. It'll give your crust and amazing aroma that accents every flavor I've ever tried!

Wilhemina Wong's Thai Lime Pie

Comment: Thanks for sharing this recipe with us. My best friend has been looking for Key Lime Pie in Hong Kong ever since I knew her and I finally was able to make this pie for her last night and she enjoyed every bit of it. I could not find Key Limes and decided to use Thai Limes instead as they look similar. Have you tried using Thai Limes before, are they similar in flavour? Thai Limes will go brown and yellow very easily if I leave them out in room temperature or in the fridge, does that happen to Key Limes as well? Thanks again for the recipe. Will probably be making it again soon as we have no more pie left!

Pippa Turney

Comment: Hi and thanks for the recipe for Key Lime Pie. A friend and I were talking about Key Lime Pie and wondered about how to make it so  I "googled"  and your recipe seemed the most straight-forward.

Monday at 18:00 hours Italian time and 09:00 hours Pacific time, we switched on our web cams and began crumbing the graham crackers, juicing and grating the limes. Lots of fun (but that's how cooking is supposed to be!!) and the Key Lime Pie was an instant hit in my family.

I served it plain as you suggested but my friend smothered his in whipped cream as that's the only way his room-mate will eat pie. The next evening I served up the rest of the pie with a strawberry accompaniment...not only very colorful but naturally sweet strawberries go perfectly with the tangy lime. I am thinking of making little KL tartlets next. Ahhhhhh the wonders and joys of the Internet!!

Thank you for your web site, the Key Lime Pie recipe, a fun and productive web cam cooking session for two devoted food fanatics and a truly tasty desert! My friend thanks you too!!

Laura Perelman

Comment: I'm making your Key Lime Pie recipe, and I bought graham cracker crumbs. What volume of crumbs should I use to equal 11 graham crackers?

RG Response: The answer is approximately 1 cup but I have been told by a professional baker that "crushed whole graham crackers will give you better flavor than boxed graham cracker crumbs."