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.

If you are a big fan of anything with Key Limes like I am, you'll be interested in this eCookbook.

It has desserts, smoothies, soups, chicken, pork, beef and of course seafood recipes that feature Key Limes as an ingredient. Gail Nettles has done the work for you and found 45 of the best key lime recipes around and put them together in this ebook.

And best of all, the ebook is 100% Money Back Guaranteed!

Learn more and order here.

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.

What's important is that you use fresh lime juice versus bottled juice. 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.

Cooking Techniques - Bake
Serves at least 8

• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice (3 to 4 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:

Name: Pippa Turney
Date: Wednesday, May 5

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!!