Key Lime Pie

It's in a foil pan, but it's homemade Key lime pie. On Wednesday I made two: one for us and one to share. Here is the recipe for one pie; it doubled easily.

Last weekend we had Key lime pie at the Island Hotel in Cedar Key. It had been a long time since I made this, but in my memory mine was better ... just had to check by making it right away! Mine IS better -- theirs was heavier and not as tart. This one is ethereal.

There are many Key lime pie recipes, all variations on just one recipe. The hotel may have used more egg yolks, and baked it longer; it was very firm.  Mine had lots of beating on a heavy-duty mixer. I used my old recipe (on an index card from who knows where?) and researched about a dozen other recipes online (zest or no zest ... ). I got some reminders about beating from this recipe from Saveur. It's supposed to be from Joe's Stone Crab on Miami Beach. Wow! I just discovered Joe's recipe right here.

Key lime pie

Crust
Mix together:
1 1/2 C. graham cracker crumbs
1/4 C. melted butter
1/2 C. sugar

I mixed this in the food processor, but since I was doubling it, the crumbs kind of flew out the cracks and I finished mixing it in a bowl.
Press the crust into a 9" pie pan. Bake at 375° until light brown, 5-7 minutes. Lower heat to 350°.

Filling
Beat 3 large egg yolks until pale and thick, about 5 minutes. Add one 14-ounce can of Eagle sweetened condensed milk and beat until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes more.
Add 1/2 C. Key lime juice and the juice of one lemon -- enough to equal 2/3 C.  (For a double recipe, on my electric juicer I squeezed a small mesh bag of those little Key limes to make about a cup of juice, and then added enough lemon juice to make 1 1/3 C. juice total. Some recipes call for just Key lime juice, but this combo works. You can use bottled Key lime juice or plain lime juice, but the taste will be slightly different.) Mix in the juice until smooth. Pour into cooled crust.
Bake at 350° about 15 minutes, until set in the middle.
Cool. (I thrust one into the freezer for a couple of minutes because I was in a hurry.)
Whip 1 C. cream with a little confectioners' sugar and vanilla. Swirl on top. Refrigerate. This sets up in a couple of hours, but you can eat it right away too. I've never done it, but it seems like it would also be good frozen.