Key Lime Pie

I got home sick last week, like really bad. Like for the first time since moving to Nashville it hit me, there’s no one to call for last minute dinner plans. No one to meet for breakfast on a whim or grab lunch at our favorite hole-in-the-wall mexican restaurant where the owner knows our names and what we always order. No one here knows to start us off with a water, diet coke, and steaming bowl of queso fundido. The last time we went to a mexican restaurant, we had to order that. ugh. We needed a visit from the parents bad so we begged and pleaded and guilted and bribed Mr. Sweeter Thing’s parents to come for the weekend until finally I said “I’ll make you a key lime pie if you come see me this week!“, and they came. Ooooooooooook, so maybe their bags were packed and ready and they were happy to come and didn’t need bribing at all….but it’s so much more fun to tell you that I got them to come, I convinced them with my all convincing key lime pie. So just go with it.

If you’ve ever been intimidated by key lime pie, be intimidated no longer. Maybe it’s because key lime pie is often compared to cheesecake, which is silly because they have nothing to do with each other and are nothing alike. At all. Key lime pie is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay easier to make. No spring form pan, no water bath, no dreaded cracks on the top.

Start with a crust. Most recipes call for a graham cracker crust, but I just couldn’t do it. I needed a crust that was born of butter and flour, it makes everything better. And because I was feeling suuuuuuuuuper lazy, I just bought one. It’s ok…it happens to all of us. So bake your crust.

While your crust is baking, zest a lime. Yes, a key lime would be superb. But I must confess….I used a peruvian lime. Because it was there. And yes, that is a pink princess bowl because all the other bowls in the kitchen were dirty.

Take your crust out of the oven and combine all your pie fixings in a bowl. We’re talking sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, key lime juice, and lime zest. It sounds wierd, I know.

Fill your pie plate with your pie filling (kind of a “duh” statement I guess). Bake for about ten minutes, there should be tiny pinhole sized bubbles on the surface, which as I prove below, are impossible to capture on camera.

Put it in the fridge and let it chill for several hours before serving. I have a strong, personal belief that all pies should be served with whipped cream. And not a garnish, not a dollop, but smothered in whip cream.

Finally, I garnished with some of the raspberry filling I used in the lemon raspberry cupcakes for Eric’s birthday and some lime slices for decoration. The pie was a huge success. I have to confess, I don’t actually eat key lime pie. But if I did, I would eat this version. I mean, I did eat some of it. It’s smooth and creamy and refreshing. I just can’t do very much of it, I have texture issues, bad. I’ve joined a 12 step program, not really, but I’m working on it. But everyone else said it hit the top of their favorites list, Eric ate it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for two days. It did get Anna’s grandma here so what else is there to say?

Key Lime Pie

Recipe from allrecipes.com 

Ingredients:

• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust or pastry crust (bake the pastry crust before filling)
• 3 cups sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup key lime juice
• 1 tablespoon grated lime zest

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime rind. Mix well and pour into crust.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of pie. DO NOT BROWN! Chill pie thoroughly before serving. Garnish with lime slices and whipped cream if desired.