Recipes From Disney: Key Lime Pie
Alex is a self-proclaimed Disney expert who enjoys expanding her culinary skills in her free time.
Key lime pie is known for a sweet and tart balance. It is named after the small and flavor-packed key limes that are used to make the dessert.
Key Lime Pie
Key lime pie. You either love it or you hate it. There really isn't much more to it than that. I was never very fond of lime or lime-flavored things, so I never gave any thought to trying it.
After spending a hot summer day at the beach, my boyfriend and I hit up a local hot spot for seafood. What could be better than a beach day, fish tacos, and crushes (a local favorite in Virginia Beach)? Well, apparently adding key lime pie. Our waitress recommended this particular pie at the end of the meal, and my boyfriend said it was one of his favorites. Normally we don't get dessert when we eat out, so I jumped at the chance. I figured I'd give it a try. It was perfect.
To this day, I associate key lime pie with good seafood. I guess I'm not the only one since nearly every seafood restaurant in Virginia Beach has this pie on the dessert menu.
Pies have been something that have always intimidated me and my culinary skills. We frequently have potlucks at work, and one of my coworkers mentioned that she had been craving key lime pie. I happened to know that I had a recipe for it in one of my Disney cookbooks, and I mentioned that I could give it a try for the next potluck. (As an aside, she will be getting married in Key West and will have key lime pies instead of a wedding cake. No pressure, right?) So now I found myself needing to make a dessert that I had recently come to love, that is known for having a certain flavor. Bring it on.
Ingredients
- 5 egg yolks, large
- 1 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 2/3 cup key lime juice
- 1 (9-inch) graham cracker pie crust
Adjustments
I tried two different grocery stores, but I could not find key limes or key lime juice at either. I don't know about you, but I am too busy to spend more time than that running around for limes. Thankfully, I was able to find my solution on Google.
If you mix equal parts lemon juice and lime juice (sometimes called Persian limes), you will get the sweet but tart flavor that key limes are known for. For example, this recipe calls for 2/3 cup of key lime juice. If I were to use lemons and regular limes, I would need 1/3 cup of each.
Getting The Juice
Cook Time
| Prep time | Cook time | Ready in | Yields |
|---|---|---|---|
15 min | 15 min | 30 min | 1 pie |
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- In a medium bowl whisk the yolks together. Be careful to not let the yolks foam.
- Stirring constantly, add the sweetened condensed milk and key lime juice.
- Pour the mixture into the pie crust and put pie in the oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until the filling is set.
- Remove pie from the oven and cool on a wire rack.
- Cover and chill until very cold. Serve and enjoy.
Keep In Mind
I based the calculations for the nutritional value of this dish upon 8 servings per pie. Of course, how many servings you get from your pie will depending upon how large you cut the pieces.
The End Product
So, this pie lives up to its name. It is full of flavor. Tart but sweet. And oh, so satisfying on a hot summer day. Did everyone love it at my work potluck? No. But as I mentioned earlier, this type of pie is not everyone's cup of tea. The people that tried it loved it. The same could be said for the pie that I sent to work with my boyfriend. So, I'll just leave it at that.
The fresh-from-the-oven pies. The smell was just fantastic! I felt like I was in the tropics.
Jazzing Things Up
I feel that you could add on a few things to this delicious dessert, should you so wish. Add a little dark chocolate drizzle, or maybe milk chocolate if that is more your style. Top with a little whipped cream. Try freezing the pie for an even cooler summer treat. For some reason, as I was writing this, the idea for key lime pie s'mores popped into my head: Just add a little dark chocolate, top with marshmallows, and lightly torch.
Comments
Larry Slawson from North Carolina on April 17, 2019:
Looks delicious! Will definitely have to try this!
Peggy Woods from Houston, Texas on April 16, 2019:
I love a good key lime pie. My first experience eating one was also in Florida many years ago. That is a good tip about combining lemon and lime juice if one cannot find key limes to get the typical taste of key lime pie. Generally, we can find key limes in our grocery stores here.
