Desserts and holidays go hand in hand. You can't celebrate any holiday without a home baked sweet of some kind. Christmas and Thanksgiving get Dad's pumpkin and pecan pies, 4th of July has it's three tiered red, white, and blue Jello (ok, that was only once), birthdays get birthday cake, you know the deal. Well with this being Easter, I had to prepare a dessert. I have been meaning to make a Key Lime pie for quite some time now, but I needed an excuse to do so. This seemed like an opportune occasion.
Now, there are several rules for making a traditional Key Lime pie, and since it is the official pie of the state of Florida, I wanted to do it right. Rule number one: Traditional Key Lime Pie must be pale yellow in color, if it's too green, that means food coloring was added, a big no, no. It also must be made with condensed milk. Back in the late 1800's when the pie was invented, there was no refrigeration in the Florida Keys, meaning no milk. The pie bakers needed to be a little creative and thrifty when making their famous pies, so they relied on canned sweetened condensed milk. Sweetened condensed milk gives a wonderful smooth texture and delicious flavor. You could also squeeze your heart out to make 3/4 of a cup of Key Lime juice (Key Limes are really small), or an easier option would be to use bottled Key Lime juice. The most popular choice is Nellie & Joe's Famous Key West Lime Juice right from Key West, FL. It has a tarter flavor than regular lime juice. Most specialty grocery stores will carry some form of bottled Key Lime juice.
There are many different recipes for the Key Lime pie lovers, each restaurant in Florida has its own version. The recipe I chose is very simple and very traditional. I actually made it even simplier by using a premade crust. Usually I would definately go for the graham cracker crust, but with Karen's gluten allergy we couldnt do the graham crackers. She was able to find a gluten-free crust however, so she could enjoy some pie. This recipe is out of Nordstrom's Entertaining at Home Cookbook.
Key Lime Pie
Serves 8
Graham Cracker Crust
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted, divided
2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 25 crackers)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Key Lime Filling
6 large egg yolks
1 1/2 cans (14 ounces each) sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup Key Lime juice
Sweetened Whipped Cream
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
Lime slices for garnish
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 10 inch pie pan with 1 tbsp of the melted butter.
To make the Graham Cracker Crust, in a bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Stir in the remaining 7 tablespoons of butter until the mixture is evenly moistened. Press the crumb mixture firmly onto the bottom and all the way up the sides of the prepared pan. Place in the freezer to chill for about 15 minutes.
To make the Key Lime Filling, in a large bowl, whist the egg yolks until pale yellow and nearly doubled in volume, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the condensed milk and then the lime juice until smooth and thoroughly combined. Carefully our the prepared filling into the crust.
Bake the pie until the top is lightly browned and the filling is softly set, about 25 minutes. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.
Just before serving, make the Sweetened Whipped Cream. In a large chilled bowl, using an electric mixer set on med-high speed, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and whip until cream begins to hold a firm peak.
Slice pie and top with whipped cream and lime slices.
So you may be wondering what we did with the leftover sweetened condensed milk. I'm glad you asked. One of our favorite boat drinks was Rum and Coconut Water. There's actually a great song by the Baha Men (the guys that sing Who Let The Dogs Out), they are actually Bahamian and have lots of fun island songs. One of my favorite songs of theirs goes Gin and Coconut Water, can not get it in America. I prefer rum, so that's how we make it. And you can get this drink in America if you just go to the grocery store and buy some coconut water. Usually in the Hispanic section you can find Goya brand in a can. It's different than coconut milk which is creamy. And make sure its unsweetened. This drink is a popular drink in Trinidad. Although I've never been there, I did manage to get the recipe through the coconut telegraph.
Rum and Coconut Water
2 ounces rum
4 ounces coconut water
1 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
nutmeg
Mix all ingredients together and pour over ice. Top with nutmeg.
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