A Little Personal History:
Description:
| Categories: | Dessert |
| Servings: | 8 |
| Time: | – Preparation: 30 minutes – Resting: 1 hour (pie mixture and baked pie) – Cooking: 30 minutes (pie crust and pie) – Refrigeration: 3+ hours |
| Equipment: | Measuring cups and spoons, 1 medium mixing bowl, grater, whisk, fork, 9″ pie pan, 1 small bowl, cooling rack |
| Difficulty: | Medium |
Ingredients (Pie Crust):
- 16 graham crackers; crushed
- 3 Tbs sugar
- 8 Tbs butter
Ingredients (Pie Filling):
- 2 tsp lime zest; grated – green portion only
- ½ cup fresh key lime juice (approximately 12 Key limes or 3-4 regular limes)
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
Ingredients (Topping):
- ½ cup whipping cream
- 2 tsp granulated sugar
- ¼ tsp vanilla extract
Procedure (Pie Crust):
- In medium mixing bowl, crush graham crackers, add sugar and mix together. Add butter and stir with fork till well blended.
- Transfer mixture into 9″ pie pan and press the bottom and up the sides of pan. Use the flat bottom of a measuring cup or other utensil to ensure a firm crust on the bottom. Clean and dry mixing bowl to use for filling.
- Bake in a pre-heated 350°F oven for 12 – 15 minutes until lightly browned. Place on a rack to cool.
Procedure (Pie Filling & Baking):
- Grate limes for zest and add to medium mixing bowl.
- Squeeze limes for juice and set aside in small bowl. Remove all seeds and pulp.
- Separate egg yolks from whites and add yolks to mixing bowl. Save whites for other uses.
- Whisk the egg yolks and lime zest together in a bowl until tinted light green. This takes about 2 minutes
- Whisk in condensed milk, then lime juice and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes or until it thickens.
- Pre-heat oven to 325 °F.
- Pour the mixture into the pie crust shell and place in center rack of pre-heated oven. Bake 15-20 minutes to set the yolks and kill any salmonella in the eggs. The center should be set but still “wiggles” when “giggled”.
- Remove from oven and cool on rack for 30 minutes or to room temperature.
- Refrigerate till well chilled (3+ hours).
Procedure (Topping):
- In small mixing bowl, add whipping cream, sugar and vanilla. Whisk or use hand blender to whip to desired consistency.
- Serve each slice of pie with a dollop of whipped cream on top.
Advanced Preparation:
- Pie needs to chill for at least 3 hours before serving so pie can be done the day before or even a couple days in advance.
Tips, Notes, and Variations:
- Take care when grating lime for zest. More than once I’ve accidentally grated some of my thumb knuckle into the zest. There’s nothing worse, considering you’ve still got the lime juice to squeeze!
- Rather than whipped cream on top or in addition, some like a light meringue topping. Use the reserved eggs whites to make your meringue. In this case, you’ll want to spread the meringue on top of pie before baking and add 5 minutes to baking time.
