Key lime pie

An unused bag of key limes sitting in our fridge upon returning from our trip inspired my first attempt at a classic key lime pie. I had actually only tried it for the first time within the last couple of months, so delicious first impressions of its tart-sweet flavour combination were fresh in my memory. Plus, my parents had gotten key lime pie for their recent wedding anniversary/Mother's day dinner and raved about how delicious it was, so I was primed and ready to try it!

Recipe

from The Best RecipeServes 84 tsp grated lime zest½ cup strained juice (from 3 to 4 limes)4 large egg yolks1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milkCrust11 full-size graham crackers, processed to fine crumbs (1¼ cups)3 tbsp granulated sugar5 tbsp unsalted butter, meltedWhipped cream topping¾ cup heavy cream, chilled¼ cup confectioners' sugarFor the filling, whisk zest and yolks in medium bowl until tinted light green, about 2 minutes. Beat in milk, then juice; set aside at room temperature to thicken.For the crust, adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 325 F. Mix crumbs and sugar in medium bowl. Add butter; stir with fork until well blended. Scrape mixture into 9" pie pan. Press crumbs over bottom and up sides of pan to form even crust. Bake until lightly browned and fragrant, about 15 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack; cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.Pour lime filling into crust; bake until center is set, yet wiggly when jiggled, 15 to 17 minutes. Return pie to wire rack and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours (can be covered lightly with lightly oiled plastic wrap laid directly on filling and refrigerated up to 1 day).For the whipped cream, up to 2 hours before serving, whip cream in medium bowl to very soft peaks. Adding confectioners' sugar 1 tbsp at a time, continue whipping to just-stiff peaks. Decoratively pipe whipped cream over filling or spread evenly with rubber spatula.

Musings

A few notes on preparation: We actually had a bag of key limes on hand, which David painstakingly juiced.The pie turned out pretty darn perfect. The lime filling set up nicely and had a wonderfully creamy consistency. It was just the right balance of tartness from the lime with sweetness in the whipped cream and crust. Delicious, pretty and relatively straightforward to make...that's a triple threat!