Take-me-somewhere-tropical-key lime pie…

Contemplating what to do with the mound of key limes taking over our kitchen, Matt and I deduced that we had three options: drinking lots and lots of beer, making an inappropriate amount of margaritas, or making one key lime pie. Even though I love margaritas and he loves beer with a lime, we opted for the pie thinking it would make a great dessert for our weekend lake house getaway.

Before Saturday I had nothing against key lime pie, it was tasty, but I never craved it and it was not something I ever thought to make or order. But now, there are several things I love about key lime pie. It is all about the limes, you must have good key limes, otherwise it is just any old key lime pie, not this key lime pie. I used local, organic key limes from my Greenling Local Box that are bursting with flavor. This is very important. This pie has six ingredients—six!—for a whole pie; three for the crust and three for the filling.

And wait until you taste it. The crust takes you back to grade school with an afternoon snack of graham crackers, only they are soaked in butter; one bite of the filling takes you straight to the Caribbean sitting on a white sand beach, looking out at an aqua ocean, the sun kissing your skin and a smell of citrus in the air—oh wait, that is in your mouth. The silky lime flavor continues to roll over and over your tongue, intensifying—the creamy texture perfectly accented by the rough crumbles of the crust. Yes, it is that good. In minutes I will be booking a plane straight to somewhere very tropical and sunny in an attempt to hold on to an eternal summer—or maybe I will just make key lime pie to carry me in and through the binds of winter…

key lime pie

The recipe is really this easy. The topping is optional. The pie stands perfectly on its own and Matt and I did not want to dilute any of the flavor, so we opted out.

Key Lime Pie
Note: Yes, it is this easy.

Crust:
1 1/4c. graham cracker crumbs
2T. sugar
5T. melted butter

Filling:
1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
1/2c. + 2T. fresh key lime juice

Topping (optional):
3/4c. chilled heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350F. Stir crumbs, sugar, and melted butter in a bowl with a fork. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a pie plate/pan. Bake for 10 minutes and let cool.

Whisk sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks until combined. Add lime juice and whisk. Pour into crust and bake for 15 minutes. Cool. Chill for at least 8 hours in the refrigerator.

Optional: Beat cream in a bowl with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Serve pie with whip cream.