Key Lime Pie Recipe & Video

Although the first Key Lime Pies were made with a pastry crust, many recipes, including this one, use a graham cracker crust. It is, by far, the simplest of all the pie crusts. Just graham cracker crumbs, a little sugar, and melted butter are needed. If you have trouble getting the right consistency of crumbs to butter, there is a test. Once you have mixed the ingredients together, squeeze a little in your fist; if the mixture holds together, you have the perfect crust. Once the crust is made it is simply pressed into a pie pan and baked until set. Instead of baking the crust, you can also just place the graham cracker crust in the refrigerator until chilled.

Next, the filling. A Key Lime Pie is very similar to a Lemon Meringue Pie, only instead of using lemons it is made with Key limes. Key limes are instantly recognizable as they are so much smaller than a regular Persian lime. In fact, it takes about 20-25 Key limes to get 1/2 cup (120 ml) of lime juice whereas you need only 3-4 Persian limes to get the same amount of juice. Key limes are a small, round, hard, yellow and green colored, very acidic fruit that grows in Florida. If you cannot find Key limes in your area, don't fret, as regular Persian limes also make an excellent pie. An interesting side note; although the filling is made with green limes, the color of the baked filling is actually yellow. The only 'green' you will find is from the flecks of lime zest. Along with the limes, the filling contains sweetened condensed milk which is made from whole milk and sugar that are heated until most of the water has evaporated. It is a thick, sticky and very sweet mixture that makes a wonderful Key lime filling. Because the filling also contains egg yolks, we do need to bake the pie until the filling is set. Once baked and cooled it is topped with softly whipped cream.