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Anyone who has ever vacationed in South Florida is all too familiar with Key lime pie. This sweet, tart and creamy dessert is refreshing and delicious. You can't help but crave it when you come back home! So how can you recreate an authentic key lime pie recipe?
Fine Dining Lovers has you you covered! Keep reading to discover nifty tips and tricks for making this tropical dessert in the comfort of your own home.
Key Lime Pie Ingredients
Key lime pie, as the name suggests, obtains its unique flavor from Key limes, which are more sour and smaller in size than traditional Mexican limes.
Key limes possess a pleasant tartness that makes them ideal for dessert, as they balance out the sugar content. They are readily available throughout South Florida and many Southwestern states during the summer time.
However, if you can't get your hands on fresh Key limes (or aren't too keen on juicing those tiny limes) the best way to ensure you'll get the authentic flavor is to use bottled key lime juice, which is readily available in most major supermarkets across the United States. The most well-known brand of Key lime juice is Nellie & Joe's.
The only other ingredients you'll need for Key lime pie are: condensed milk, egg yolks, and a graham cracker crust (either homemade or store bought).
image via Nellie and Joe's
Authentic Key Lime Pie Recipe
Below we share the authentic Key lime pie recipe from Nellie & Joe's which yields 8 generous portions.
Key lime pie filling
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks (save the whites for another use)
1/2 cup Nellie & Joe's Key West lime juice
additional:
1 9-inch graham cracker pie crust
Cooking instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Combine the Key lime filling ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk together until blended. Pour over the graham cracker pie crust.
3. Bake at 350F for 15 minutes. Allow to cool before refrigerating.
4. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight before cutting. Garnish with fresh whipped cream and lime slices.
How To Make a Graham Cracker Crust
image via Stacey Spensler/Flickr
To prepare an authentic Key lime pie with a homemade graham cracker crust you'll have to make the crust ahead of time.
Ingredients for graham cracker pie crust:
9 sheets of graham crackers (about 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
Instructions
In a food processor, pulse the graham crackers until they resemble bread crumbs. Add the melted butter and sugar. Pulse until mixed well.
Spread the mixture evenly onto the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Bake at 325F for 10 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool before filling.
Cool Whip Key Lime Pie
An short cut to making a key lime pie is to use Cool Whip (or any non-dairy whipped topping) as a base. The biggest advantage of going this route is that you won't have to bake your key lime pie. That means less time in the kitchen and no hot oven to pester you on a hot summer day.
Nellie & Joe's, makers of the famous Key West Lime Juice, offer a simple but delicious recipe for Cool Whip Key Lime Pie:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup Nellie & Joe's Key West Lime Juice
8 oz. container of Cool Whip
one prepared graham cracker crust
Simply whisk together the juice and condensed milk. Then gently fold in the Cool Whip. Pour the mixture onto a graham cracker crust and refrigerate. The pie ready to eat whenever you need it.
