Key Lime Pie, Part Two

Part two of a two part series. Part one is here. Click any photo for larger.

The traditional topping for key lime pie to me is a meringue. I am not that big of a fan of meringue, so I whip my own cream. Again, so easy just about anybody can do this.

Take 8oz heavy cream, put it into a bowl with 3 tablespoons of sugar and one teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Whip it, and whip it good.

When the cream starts to firm up you have a choice. I like my whipped cream pretty damned thick so let it go as long as you want to, according to your preference.

Spread it on top of the pie and put it in the fridge for 12 hours. NO BAKING. Sure there is a slight salmonella risk from the raw eggs, but I think the acid from the lime juice knocks it down. The first time I made it I ate it first as a test, then gave it to my family for consumption. There were no issues. Here is the finished product.

All that is left is to eat it. That is the really fun part.

A few comments on the pie. I tried this recipe first with standard persian limes you can get anywhere. It was extremely good, better than any restaurant key lime pie I have ever had. I was super lazy that day so just put Cool Whip on top instead of the whipped cream. The Cool Whip was a huge step down from the freshly whipped cream so I wouldn’t recommend that.

I have never seen key limes in a store up here in Wisconsin and that is why I tried the persian limes first. I had a 5 pound box of key limes shipped in to try the recipe with those and I have to admit it is better – not by orders of magnitude, but definitely better. I probably shouldn’t have done that because now when I make it again with persian limes I know that I am shortchanging myself. But persian limes are everywhere and very cheap, and the key limes I must have shipped in. I got mine from here. That cost put the pie at over $30 to make, and using the persians the pie costs about $10 to make. Maybe some of my local mercados will have the key limes in stock and I can save some money. I will have to check that out.

DO NOT buy lime juice or any substitute. Squeeze the limes yourself for the freshest taste. I bought some of the store packaged lime juice to taste and it was garbage. I think it would ruin the pie. I have a hunch that a lot of the restaurant “key lime pies” that are served are made from that stuff.

Thanks again to Steve H. for publishing the original recipe.

Enjoy!

Cross posted at LITGM.