Key Lime Pie

I realize it's sort of a strange time to be posting key lime pie, I mean unless you live in Florida you're not even very likely to find key limes right?  Well, I didn't have key limes either and yet here I have this delicious pie.  Go to the juice section of your grocery store and look for "Nellie & Joe's Famous Key Lime Juice" and buy one regular fresh lime.  All your problems are now solved.  You're welcome.

As you can see by the picture above, I zested this time and then cut it up and made this nifty decoration on top of the pie.  No sense in wasting a perfectly good lime.

Flavor is an understatement here.  The key lime portion is creamy and smooth with a vivid lime flavor.  It'll make your mouth water, in a good way. The whipped cream is dreamy of course and the graham cracker crust is thick, buttery and delicious.  If you're not a huge graham cracker crust kind of person you can scale this one back a little or just use a store bought crust of your choice.

Freezing it for 20 minutes prior to serving helps to hold it's shape a little better.  I don't think you have to do it but you will have a little more "run" without the freezing step.

Key Lime Pie

Recipe from cook-eat-love

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound graham crackers
• 4 Tbsp sugar
• 2 sticks melted unsalted butter
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 4 large egg yolks
• zest of one lime
• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 2/3 cup key lime juice
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream, chilled
• 2 Tbsp confectioners' sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325º
2. Break up the graham crackers and place them into a food processor.  Pulse until they are finely crumbled and there are no large pieces. 
3. Add the sugar and sea salt and then drizzle in the melted butter while pulsing.  Make sure to watch the mixture, once the graham cracker crumbs look like wet sand you can stop adding butter, if there's any left. 
4. Press the mixture into a deep dish pie plate making sure the bottom and edges are as even as possible.
5. Bake for 10 minutes, then let cool on a cooling rack. 
6. While the crust is cooling, use the bowl of your stand mixer to add the egg yolks and lime zest.  Use the whisk attachment and whip the yolks on high speed for  5-6 minutes or until light and fluffy. 
7. Slowly add the can of sweetened condensed milk and mix for another 4-5 minutes until thick. 
8. Lower the speed to low and add the lime juice, mix until blended. 
9. Pour into the cooled pie crust and bake for 15 minutes, or until set. 
10. Let the pie cool and then refrigerate for about 20 minutes. 
11. To make the topping, place the ingredients into the bowl of your stand mixer, using the whisk attachment and whip until stiff peaks form. 
12. Spread over the cooled pie and refrigerate.  Freeze about 20 minutes before you plan to serve it.