The weekend is finally here! You know what that means… time for a backyard barbecue! I know it’s still pretty cold in a lot of the country, but here in Texas, it’s been between 75℉-90℉ almost every day, which has me craving a nice dinner in the backyard. I just got my new hammock delivered and I am ready for some outdoor relaxing. Today I am making one of my FAVORITE summer desserts: Key Lime Pie. Key Lime Pie is the perfect ending to a nice summer meal, so I made this one in hopes that I can convince my roommate to grill out for dinner tomorrow! Who’s ready for a quarantine cookout!?!? 😎🍔🌞
Key Lime Pie
Graham Cracker Crust
1 1/2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs
1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar
1 stick Butter
1/2 tsp Salt
Key Lime Pie Filling
2 cans (28oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 cup Lime Juice
1 1/2 Tbsp Lime Zest
6 each Egg Yolks
Chantilly Cream
1 cup Heavy Cream
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
1. Preheat your oven to 350℉ before you begin. The first thing we are going to do is make the crust. If you have a food processor, it’s about to make this much easier for you! Break up about 1 1/2 sleeves of graham crackers into your food processor and pulse it until you don’t have any large pieces left. If you don’t have a food processor, put your graham crackers in a Ziploc and crush them with your rolling pin.
2. Now, mix in the rest of your dry ingredients (brown sugar & salt). If you’re using the food processor, you can add them right into it and pulse a few times. Otherwise, just combine them in a bowl with your spatula.
3. Pour in the melted butter and mix until the whole mixture is moistened. Again, you can do this right in the food processor. If you’re mixing in a bowl, I recommend using your hands for this over using a spatula. You’ll get a little messy, but it’s so much easier to mix that way!
4. Time to find your favorite pie dish! Dump your graham mixture right into your dish. No need to spray it, the butter in the crust will help it from getting stuck. Start to even it out with your hand, pressing the graham into the bottom of the dish and up the sides. Now, to make it look a little prettier and more uniform, grab a flat bottomed measuring cup or bowl. Use the bottom and side of the measuring cup to pack down the crust into your pie dish. Hold your finger along the top when you press on the sides to keep a more uniform top. Then just pop it in the oven. We’re going to bake it just for about 8-10 minutes to make sure it keeps a nice crisp when we add the filling.
5. Now it’s time to get the filling ready! The hardest part of this is zesting and squeezing all those limes. You’ll need 1-2 tablespoons of zest. I like to use a long micro blade and zest into a wide-mouthed bowl to make sure I don’t lose any! I used 5 limes for my zest, but it will really depend on the size. Ideally, you want to use key limes, but they aren’t always around… trust me, this recipe still tastes amazing with regular limes!
6. Once you have enough zest, cut your limes in half. If you have a juicer, I’m jealous and you should definitely use it! I squeeze my limes into a measuring cup with a fine mesh sifter balanced on top to catch any seeds or large pieces of pulp. I used about 2lbs of limes. If you don’t want to squeeze all those limes, just buy a few to get the zest off of and buy some fresh squeezed lime juice from the grocery store.
7. Now, we have all of our ingredients ready and we’re just going to gently mix them together with a whisk. We aren’t trying to incorporate any air, the whisk just breaks up the egg yolks a bit easier than a spatula. Mix the egg yolks and sweetened condensed milk first. Then add the lime juice and lime zest.
8. Pour the lime filling into your graham cracker crust and put it back in the oven. Bake your pie for about 25-30 minutes. The pie will start to get a glossy finish on top. It will be done when it doesn’t jiggle too much. The pie filling will still move when you shake it, but the whole pie will shake together. It’s hard to explain so I took a slow-motion video to help!
9. Put your pie in the refrigerator and let it cool completely. While it’s cooling, we can prepare the Chantilly cream (read: fancy whipped cream). Either by hand, with a stand mixer, or a hand mixer, whip together the heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Whip until you get a medium, stiff peak.
10. The last step before enjoying this delicious pie is to pipe the whipped cream on top. Using a piping bag and a star tip, we’re just going to pipe some whipped cream around the edge of the pie. Be generous with the cream; its sweetness really compliments the tartness of the lime filling. If you’ve never piped before, don’t worry! Put the star tip inside your piping bag and cut off the tip. Fill the piping bag about half full with cream and twist it closed. Hold it with your dominant hand, and squeeze to pipe the cream. You can hold it along the edge, squeeze the bag, and just move your hand in a zigzag motion. If you’re feeling ambitious, try for some rosettes! No matter how it looks, it will still be delicious, so have fun with it!
11. ENJOY! Have a slice; you earned it! 🥧💚🙌
bake the world a better place