Key Lime Pie

Cooking Instructions

Heat oven to 350°F.

Crust: Melt butter in a saucepan or bowl. Add crumbs and stir until coated. Press firmly onto bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Bake 10 minutes until set. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Filling: Beat egg yolks in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until thick and creamy, about 3 minutes. With mixer on low speed, add remain ing Filling ingredients and beat until well blended. Pour into cooled pie crust.

Bake (at 350°F), 30 to 35 minutes until filling is set. Cool on wire rack no longer than 30 minutes, then refrigerate, at least 4 hours, or tightly covered up to 4 days.

Up to 2 hours before serving: Beat cream and sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form when beaters are lifted. Drop spoonfuls of whipped cream on pie, spaced so each wedge will get some when pie is cut. Return to refrigerator. Just before serving, garnish with lime peel and sugared flowers.

Cook’s Tips

Use freshly squeezed lime juice. It makes a noticeable difference in how the filling thickens. Tiny Key limes (“key” as in the Florida Keys) are making a comeback, but you’ll have to squeeze a zillion of the little devils to yield enough juice. Stick with regular limes and avoid risking carpal tunnel syndrome.

Buy packaged graham-cracker crumbs. Or break up graham crackers and pulverize them in a food processor or crush them in a plastic food bag. You can use a purchased graham-cracker crust, but you’ll need to adjust the amount of filling as directed in the variation that follows this recipe.

We updated the traditional pie filling by using fat-free sweetened condensed milk. (Unfortunately, fat-free doesn’t mean calorie-free.)

Save the egg whites for omelets or meringue. To freeze egg whites for a later use, put them in a jar and freeze up to 12 months. (If you “forget” to label the jar with the number of egg whites, 1 fluid ounce = 1 egg white, 1⁄4 cup = 2 whites.)

Refrigerate the pie, tightly covered, promptly. It will keep for at least 4 days.

Sugared Flowers

Whether you plan to sugar the flowers or not, be sure that they are edible (see list below) and pesticide-free. Avoid flowers from florists (they’re usually sprayed) and use only flowers you grow yourself, or those that can be bought in specialty produce markets.

To make sugar adhere to flowers, we recommend that you use meringue powder or Just Whites powdered egg whites (available in many supermarkets, craft-or party-supply shops) following package directions for 2 egg whites. With fingers, dab both sides of petals with egg-white mixture. Using a spoon, sprinkle superfine granulated sugar over both sides of flowers until evenly coated. Place flowers on a wire rack to dry at room temperature, at least 8 hours. When dry, cover loosely and store at room temperature.

Edible flowers include: bachelor’s buttons, carnations, daisies, forget-me-nots, gardenias, honeysuckle, lilacs, marigolds, nasturtiums, pansies, rose petals, scented geraniums and violets.

NOTE Stamens and styles found in flower’s center may cause an allergic reaction. To be safe, remove before eating.