Anyone in my life who has gone to Boca with me has been "dragged" to the one and only Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach (ok, ok, I've brought people to the spin-offs in Las Vegas and Chicago too). Even if you don’t like shellfish, I will drag your butt there if we are within a 90-minute drive. Stone crabs are a delicacy, but even the sides are amazing (Potatoes Lyonnaise, Creamed Spinach, and Charred Lime Corn… mmmmm). If you have room at the end, the key lime pie is the only option.
When going to a friend’s house and tasked with dessert, I initially thought of chocolate, but it’s still hot. Summery food to me is bright and zingy, and lemon meringue is too fussy. I have this cookbook but have never cooked from it…today was the day!
Ingredients:
Crust:
⅓ lb graham crackers bashed into crumbs or 1 c. plus 2 ½ TB graham cracker crumbs
5 TB melted butter
⅓ c. sugar
Filling:
3 egg yolks
Grated zest of 2 limes (~1 ½ tsp)
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
⅔ c. lime juice (I used store bought key lime juice, but you can use regular lime)
For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 9 inch pie pan. If using premade crumbs like I did, mix the butter and sugar with the crumbs in a bowl (otherwise the whole thing can be blitzed together in the food processor).
Dump the buttery crumbs into the buttered pan and press into the bottom and sides, forming a neat border around the edge. Bake the crust until set and golden, 8 minutes. Set aside on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
Make the filling. In an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks and lime zest at high speed until very fluffy, about 5 minutes. Gradually add the condensed milk and continue beating until thick, 3-4 minutes longer. Lower the mixer speed and slowly add the lime juice, mixing until just combined - no longer. Pour the mixture into the crust.
Bake for 10 minutes, until the filling has just set. Cool on a wire rack, then refrigerate. Freeze for 15-20 minutes before serving to aid in cutting. Serve very cold with whipped cream.
This is a delicious pie. Much like myself, it’s super tart. The whipped cream balances it. It was hard to get out of the pan - maybe we should have frozen it longer? Even messy, I’d have it again.