Key Lime Tree
I grew up in Florida where key lime pie was as ubiquitous as alligators, palm trees and sunshine.
Any restaurant, worth their salt, had a ‘house made’ key lime pie as standard dessert.
It was not uncommon for folks to have multiple citrus trees in their yards to supply the cooking and baking needs of their family.
Can you imagine having your own stash of oranges, tangerines, grapefruits and limes?
The only trick was waiting for the crop to fruit.
Satsuma citrus tree
Will the right color of key lime please stand up?
Oranges!
While trolling the World Wide Web, I ran across a number of references for Key Lime Pie.
There are a few things to note about Key Limes:
Key lime ARE different from the standard grocery store limes. According to the Key Lime website:
“The key lime (Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) is in a class all of its own. Much smaller than regular “Persian” limes, the key lime ranges in size from a ping-pong ball to a golf ball (about 10cm to16cm in circumference).The peel is thin, smooth and greenish-yellow when ripe. The flesh is also greenish-yellow and full of highly poly embryonic seeds (two or more plants from one seed). The interior is divided by 10 to 12 segments, quite juicy and has a higher acidity than regular Persian limes. Key limes have a very distinctive aroma, which makes them valuable for culinary use.”
Key lime juice- is light yellow NOT green, which means that Key Lime Pie should be light yellow NOT green.
Say no to GREEN Key Lime Pie
If you see the pie filling is green when making or ordering a key lime pie, it’s just a faux colored LIME pie, not a key lime pie.
My oh my, I LOVE Pie
As a child, I usually requested a birthday pie over birthday cake. I just love cooked fruit. My favorites are blackberry and blueberry pies.
Like many folks, I’m looking for ways to do things more quickly, but still have a quality product to show for my efforts. Enter the recipe
The recipe I’m sharing today is from All Recipes and is almost as easy as falling out of bed.
Admittedly,I had a slight bit of trouble with one part of the recipe – getting just the yolks.
We had 5 eggs left in the refrigerator – PERFECT…
and had successfully separated 4 of the 5 into the mixing bowl…
the egg white AND the yolk got all jiggity about their impending separation AND slithered down the drain in the kitchen sink.
Whomp, Whomp – BIG TIME.
After a ‘replace the eggs’ trip to the corner organic market, for overpriced organic eggs…
I proceeded to lose another three whole eggs down the sink before successfully wrangling the fourth yolk into the bowl for whisking.
They were slippery little suckers.
The rest WAS as easy as falling out of bed.
So here it is, the yummy, and easy for those not challenged by separating egg yolks easy Key Lime Recipe.
Easy Key Lime Pie
Easy Key Lime Pie
PREP: 20 mins * COOK: 15 mins * READY IN: 35 mins
Ingredients
Original recipe makes 1 – 9 inch pie
- 5 egg yolks, beaten
- 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup key lime juice
- 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust
Directions
Baked Key Lime Pie
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Combine the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk and lime juice. Mix well.
- Pour into unbaked graham cracker shell.
- Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.
- Allow to cool.
- Top with whipped topping and garnish with lime slices if desired.
I hope you enjoy this as much as we did.
