Key Lime pie is a desert that people assume is a lot tougher to make than it really is. In fact, it might be one of the easiest pies out there! There is a trick to keylime pie though… you can’t let on to how easy it is to make.
The recipe I used was straight off the back of the Keylime Juice bottle. It turned out great so I can’t really argue with it. I also used a pre-made graham cracker crust so it was a snap. The only problem I ran into was that the pie crust was a larger than it was supposed to be, so the keylime mixture spread out more than it was supposed to. The lesson is that you should make sure you get a standard size pie crust.
I got a bottle of key lime juice because I thought having key limes made a difference, but according to Cook’s Illustrated testers actually thought the pie made with Key limes and the limes you find in the supermarket, Persian limes, tasted pretty much the same. That being said, it is probably easier and cheaper to use the bottle juice. I got a bottle of Nellie & Joe’s Famous Key West Lime Juice for about $2.50 and it has enough juice to make 4 pies.
The Key lime pie filling
Here is the recipe I tried:
Nellie & Joe’s Key Lime Pie Recipe
- 9″ Graham Cracker Pie Shell
- 14oz. Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 3 Egg Yolks
- 1/2 Cup Lime Juice
- Whip Cream
- Pre-heat oven to 350
- Combine milk, egg yolks and lime juice
- Blend until smooth
- Pour filling into pie shell and bake at 350 for 15 minutes
- Allow to stand for 10 minutes and then refrigerate
- Just before serving cover with freshly whipped cream
Yummy Key lime pie!
The pie I made with this recipe got great reviews! However I had to check the Bible, aka Cook’s Illustrated’s cook book The New Best Recipes to see if they had any improvements. They have basically the same recipe except they include lime zest in the filling and they set aside the filling mixture for 30 minutes to let it thicken. They also include some quick instructions for make whip cream from scratch. I did this for my pie and it tasted great.
They also have an interesting bit explaining the science behind why key lime pie thickens. The thickening action is result of the high acidity of the lime juice and the unique properties of sweetened condensed milk. The acidity of the lime juice causes the protein in the egg yolks and the condensed milk to coil up and bond together. If this was done with normal milk, it would simply curdle. Condensed milk is made by boiling off most of the water and then adding sugar. The add sugar separates the protein strands preventing them from bonding too tightly and becoming curdled. Since most of the excess water was removed when the milk was boiled it becomes much thicker and stiffens.
Cook’s Illustrated Key Lime Pie Recipe
- 9″ graham cracker pie shell
- 4 teaspoons grated lime zest
- 1/2 strained juice, from 3 or 4 limes
- 4 large egg yolks
- 14oz sweetened condensed milk
- 3/4 cup chilled heavy cream
- 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
Lime Filling
Whipped Cream
For the pie:
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“WOW”, You just won’t believe it until you try one of Kutchie and Anita Pelaez’s famous Key Lime Pies. We ordered three of them this week and are now getting ready to more of them for the holidays. To try a few for yourself just contact Kutchie and Anita Pelaez’s, Key West, Kutcharitaville, Key Lime Pie Factory. And be sure to tell your friends about they’re awesome pies.
We bought a bottle of N&J key lime juice at Kutcharitaville Cafe and used the recipe on the back of the bottle thinking that the pie would come-out like Kutchie’s world famous key lime pie. Boy were we in for a big surprise, that pie was nothing like Kutchie’s pie, it didn’t even come close. Don’t be fooled by what you hear or what you read. Real key lime pie can only come from the masters. Kutchie I guess that you won the title of the world’s greatest key lime pie.
….Haddie
I just stumbled onto your site. I am a big fan of the pie.
I thought I would pass along our best discovery of the pie world. We found the most awesome pie traveling in North Carolina a few years back. It was billed as The World’s Greatest Key Lime Pie at Kutchie’s Kutcharitaville Cafe. Yea Right, that’s what they all say, don’t ya know. We went over there and ate some killer cheese burgers. So after that we ordered the famous key lime pie. Well, Low and Behold, Kutchie’s KLP Was Better Than Any Key Lime Pie we could have ever imagined. If Am lying, Am Dieing! The sign should have read,”Kutchie The Key Lime Pie King”. We ate that pie like, kids in a candy store! We bought 4 whole pies to bring back home with us, we had another 8-hours of
the drive back. By the time we reached home, only 1-pie was
left. Good thing we got all the mailing info., now we order
a few pies every month.
We highly recommend that you try Kutchie’s Awesome pies, you will never look at key lime pie the same again.
David Soul
You MUST use FRESH squeezed lime juice.
Try using store bought chocolate pie crust. The sweet chocolate and sour sour lime combine with the creamy whipped cream to make an impression the taste buds will never forget.
It is my favorite too, but I will not use bottled key lime juice. It is too strong, bitter and edgy. It only take a moment to squeeze the limes.
I love Key Lime Pie. Out of all the pies it’s my favorite. I had no idea how easy it was to make. One question though, is it normally made with graham craker crust? I have only had the regualr pie crust version. Not that it makes a difference, I will still gobble it down!
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