Okay so I’m sure your first question is why is it ‘kinda’ key lime pie and not just key lime pie? Well my answer to you is have you ever tried to find fresh key limes in the food store? I mean maybe if you’re in an exceptionally stocked produce department and the moon and the stars all align you may just accidentally stumble across them. However, I can promise you that you won’t find them on the day that you are trying to buy ingredients for your pie. Now some stores do sell bottled key lime juice, but it’s just not as good as fresh limes in my opinion. So the solution to this maddening problem is to just use plain old, run of the mill limes that you can find in literally any grocery store. Trust me you’re not going to miss those key limes the regular ones do the trick. This tart and sweet pie will become a summer dessert favorite in your house just as it has in mine.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups of graham cracker crumbs
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- 5 tbsp. butter melted
- 1 (14 oz.) can of sweetened condensed milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
- 1 tsp. lime zest (plus extra to garnish your pie at the end)
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 1/2 cup confectioners sugar
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and the melted butter together with a fork in the bottom of a 9 inch pie pan. Work the crumbs with the fork until everything is combined and all the crumbs are wet.
3. Press the moistened crumbs along the sides and the bottom of your pie pan. I like to press around the sides first then smooth out the bottom.
4. When you are done your crust will look like this. Bake it for 10 minutes and let cool completely before putting the filling in it.
5. Whisk your egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk together in a medium bowl.
6. Zest several limes. Add a teaspoon of the zest right into the egg and condensed milk mixture and save the rest for garnish at the end.
7. Juice the limes until you get 1/2 a cup of fresh lime juice. The amount of limes you will need for this depends on the size and juiciness of your limes. Add the lime juice to your egg mixture and whisk thoroughly to make sure all the juice is combined with the condensed milk and eggs.
8. Pour the mixture into the pie shell scrapping the bowl with a spatula to make sure you get all of it. Bake it in a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes and let cool completely.
9. Once your pie has cooled completely it’s time to make the whipped cream topping. With a hand mixer whip 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and a 1/2 a cup of confectioners sugar. Beat the mixture on the highest setting for several minutes until it forms stiff peaks.
10. Top your pie with the whipped cream. You can just spread it on top with a spatula, or if you want to be fancy, you can fill a pipping bag and pipe rosettes on the top. Sprinkle the remaining lime zest on top of the whipped cream and enjoy your pie!
