real life test kitchen: key lime pie

We love key lime pie. Whenever we find it on a menu, we have to order it. So when I spotted a recipe for it last month’s In Style magazine, I had to give it a whirl. The recipe came from Sara Ramirez, from Grey’s Anatomy, whose mom made the dessert for a restaurant in their Mexican hometown. I compared it to a few others and they were all basically the same: Make a graham cracker crust out of sugar, graham crackers and butter. While that is cooling after baking, whisk egg yolks (I’ve seen lower calorie recipes that use egg whites) condensed milk and fresh lime juice. I made one big mistake when I was shopping — I bought evaporated milk, which is NOT sweetened, instead of condensed milk, which is. Luckily, I realized this while I was I was making it, and added in some sugar to compensate. I’m not sure what this did the chemistry of the thing, but I ended up baking it for much longer than the 15 minutes the recipe the called for. The thing did not set all until about 30 minutes. Once it chilled over night, I put some whipped cream on top and dug in. It was very yummy, though a little sloppy — the graham cracker crust stuck to the pan and made it really hard to get a slice out without destroying. I couldn’t find the recipe online, so click through to the next page to see it. — Angela M.
Sara Ramirez’s Key Lime Pie from the July issue of In Style
2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup of sugar plus 2 tbsp, divided
4 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
4 egg yolks
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh key lime juice (I used regular limes and it was fine)
3/4 cup chilled heavy cream (for whipped cream — or go for Cool Whip!)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. Combine graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup of sugar and butter. 3. Press mixture over bottom and up sides of 9″ glass plate. (why glass? I’m not sure). 4. Bake crust in middle of oven for 10 minutes; let cool. 5. Whisk egg yolks, condensed milk, and lime juice. Pour into crust. 6. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until center is set (took 30 for me). 7. Cool on wire rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. 8. Beat cream until frothy, add 2 tbsp sugar and continue to beat until peaks are stiff. Spread over pie and garnish with lime slice.



















July 18th, 2007 at 7:54 am
I love Key Lime too! And, I like it year round…
Here’s MY personal favorite:
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Maddie
http://www.Shop5thAvenue.com
Luxury Gifts To Die For
July 18th, 2007 at 8:37 am
I just tried the same recipe from Instyle- my key lime pie turned out quite well. Yours looks good too
July 18th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Love key lime pie, too! I tried this recipe about a month ago and loved it so much that I’ve made it twice since! It’s a frozen version and soooo yummy!
August 6th, 2008 at 5:46 am
[...] Peach Pudding Cake Peach and Blueberry Crostata Spaghetti with Strawberries Lemon Cookies Lemon Cheesecake Key Lime Pie [...]
August 6th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Look for the recipe on the side of the key lime juice bottle. It’s faster and easier than Sara’s, and tastes just as yummy!