Key Lime Pie to Celebrate Spring!

Key Lime Pie to Celebrate Spring!

I do think that Spring has finally sprung (at least for most of the country) and that it is here to stay. Yay! Here in Atlanta, the flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing and the pollen is everywhere.

I don’t know how you feel about it, but I find that pollen is aggravating. My back deck is covered in the stuff, our cars are a putrid yellowish-green color and my eyes itch like crazy whenever I walk outside. Other than that, I do think that spring (this year in particular) is welcomed by all. The winter seemed endless. The soups and pots of heavy foods kept showing up in my kitchen, the Vitamin D exposure was next to nothing and I was personally beginning to think about moving further south to the Sunshine State. Luckily, this all has passed because now are experiencing temps in the 80’s and Florida is probably in the 90’s!

Anyway, I think it is now very appropriate to do some blog posts about dishes and desserts that are easy to prepare and will get you back out in the sunshine instead of slaving in the kitchen. I thought one way to kick this off was to squeeze some of these little buggars Key Limes for a MARGARITA Key Lime Pie!

I suppose the last time I made this pie (which was a really long time ago), I bought Key Lime juice to make it. I am certain that I never tried to juice a 1-inch in diameter lime with a citrus reamer at any other point in my life, so I was in for a real surprise when I decided to make this pie with fresh limes. The entire time I was involved in this juicing process (which was at least an hour), I was wondering how on earth all these bottles of Key Lime juice are produced?! There is no juice in some of these little limes! I even put gloves on (because my hands were starting to shrivel up like prunes) and tried squeezing the insides with my fingers…still no juice.

Then I started to think that maybe there are little people that have mini juicers and that they do all the juicing for these bottles of Key Lime juice and Key Lime pies. 😉 Of course, there is a Mexican Key Lime Juicer that you can purchase if you think you will be doing this enough in your life to justify spending the extra $7.85 (plus shipping). Then you have to find a spot to store this thing until you are crazy enough to do this again.

I will say that the fresh lime juice in the pie truly made a difference. The tart and the sweet flavors are really nice with the coconut that I added to the pie crust. I also made some stabilized whipped cream to pipe on the pie which was a nice addition. I would add more whipped cream for serving because it really was tasty, but I didn’t want to fuss up the pics too much (the recipe makes plenty of extra whipped cream).

Have a great weekend!

Key Lime Pie

8 servings

Ingredients:

1 1/4 graham cracker crumbs (if you crush your own, this will take one wrapped package of graham crackers)
1/3 cup sweetened coconut (you could add up to 1/2 cup if you like a stronger coconut flavor)
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
4 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1/2 cup fresh Key Lime juice (or bottled juice)
1 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon plain gelatin
1 tablespoon cold water
2 tablespoon confectioner’s sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together graham cracker crumbs, coconut, sugar and butter with a fork in a medium sized bowl. Press mixture evenly into a 9-inch glass pie pan (not deep dish). Make sure the mixture covers the bottom and sides of the pan. Bake on a rack in the middle of the oven for 8-10 minutes (mine took 8 minutes). Remove to a wire rack and cool.

Mix together sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks with a whisk until combined. Add in lime juice and whisk again until thoroughly combined. Pour filling mixture into cooled crust. Bake on a rack in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes. Cool pie on a wire rack and then chill for at least 6-8 hours or overnight.

About an hour before serving the pie, put heavy cream in a large bowl. Place gelatin and water in a small dish in the microwave. Heat 5-10 seconds or just until gelatin is melted. Add this mixture to the heavy cream and whip just until combined. Refrigerate this mixture for about an hour.

When ready to serve, whip the heavy cream mixture with confectioner’s sugar and vanilla until stiff. Place into a pastry bag and pipe onto pie as desired.

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