Simple Selfmade Key Lime Pie

June 26, 2022

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Nothing compares to the tangy, melt-in-your-mouth goodness of this straightforward Key Lime Pie! It’s a traditional dessert composed of a buttery graham cracker crust, a fluffy whipped cream topping and a velvety key lime filling with the proper steadiness of candy and tart.

A piece of key lime pie on a plate with a bowl of fresh limes and the rest of the pie in the background

Gentle and Refreshing Key Lime Pie

In the event you love key lime pie, you’ll love this recipe! It’s the proper steadiness of candy and tart. Plus, the feel is to die for! It’s so easy and creamy it simply melts in your mouth.

The pie begins with the normal graham cracker crust. The filling features a full cup of key lime juice, plus one other quarter cup of lemon juice. The lemon juice provides an additional depth of taste that’s perfection. It’s the lacking ingredient you by no means knew you wanted. So good! It additionally makes use of 5 egg yolks for the proper steadiness of taste and texture.

Lastly, mild and fluffy swirls of selfmade whipped cream crown the outer fringe of the pie. It’s the proper final touch! It’s a easy but subtle dessert that appears and tastes like 1,000,000 bucks. Your plate is about to get emptied at a file tempo!

A homemade key lime pie inside of a pie dish with one slice missing and a bowl of fresh limes in the background

What You’ll Want

The crust, filling and topping are all made with easy components! To see the total quantities you’ll want of every merchandise, scroll all the way down to the recipe card.

For the Graham Cracker Crust

Graham Cracker Crumbs: I wish to crush my graham crackers in a meals processor.
Sugar
Salt
Unsalted Butter: Melted.

For the Key Lime Pie Filling

Sweetened Condensed Milk: Be sure you don’t by chance attain for evaporated milk.
Key Lime Juice: Recent-squeezed juice is good, however bottled additionally works nice since key limes are sometimes arduous to seek out.
Recent Lemon Juice: To steadiness out the important thing lime taste.
Sugar: Cuts down on among the tartness of the pie.
Egg Yolks: You may discard the leftover whites or save them for one thing else.
Salt: For taste.

For the Whipped Cream Topping

Heavy Whipping Cream: Hold this chilled till you’re about to make use of it.
Powdered Sugar: This supplies some sweetness – however extra importantly, it stabilizes the whipped cream so it doesn’t wilt within the fridge.
Vanilla Extract
Lime Slices: Non-obligatory, for adorning.

Can I Use Common Limes in Place of Key Limes?

For the sake of authenticity, I encourage you to make this pie with precise key limes if you will get your palms on them. But when not, bottled key lime juice will work properly too. Another choice could be common (Persian) limes, however the taste is a bit completely different. Both manner, you’ll nonetheless want a full cup of juice. The flavour of the filling will differ based mostly on the juice you employ.

A homemade citrus pie inside of a pie dish with a green kitchen towel underneath the dish and swirls of whipped cream on top of the pie filling

The right way to Make Key Lime Pie From Scratch

Able to rock? Let’s make some pie!

Make the Crust

Warmth Oven: Preheat the oven to 325°F.
Mix Dry Substances: Add the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and salt to a big bowl and stir to mix.
Add Butter: Add the melted butter, stirring till the combination is properly mixed with a crumbly texture.
Switch Crust to Pan: Pour the combination right into a deep dish 9-inch pie pan and unfold the crumbs round in order that they’re evenly dispersed. Press the crumbs into the underside and up the perimeters of the pan. Bake the crust for five minutes, then put aside to chill.

Make the Filling

Mix Filling Substances: Whisk collectively the entire filling components simply till properly mixed.
Pour Into Crust & Bake: Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake the pie for about 25-Half-hour, or till the sides are set and the middle is simply set however nonetheless jiggly. It could look like it’s nonetheless not terribly agency, however it can agency up because it cools.
Let Cool: Cool the pie on a wire rack for 1 hour, then refrigerate it till it’s agency, round 5-6 hours.

Make the Topping

Mix Substances: Add the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a big mixer bowl and whip the combination on excessive velocity till stiff peaks type.
Pipe Onto Pie: Pipe the whipped cream across the high fringe of your pie and add half slices of lime should you’d like. I piped the whipped cream in swirls, however be happy to embellish your pie as desired.

A slice of key lime pie on a plate with one bite on a metal fork beside the slice

Suggestions for Success

Don’t get stressed if this recipe feels unfamiliar. The following tips are right here that will help you make a flawless pie!

Use This Hack for Juicing Key Limes: I wish to microwave my key limes for 30 seconds earlier than I halve them and go at them with my citrus juicer. This helps them launch extra juice. In the event you don’t have a citrus juicer, merely twist a fork into the open finish of every lime half.
Quick on Time? If you really want to chop down on prep time, go forward and use a store-bought graham cracker crust as an alternative of constructing one from scratch. Your key lime pie will nonetheless be magnificent!
Let the Pie Cool Utterly: Don’t add your whipped cream to the pie till the filling has absolutely set. It ought to cool on a wire rack for 1 hour earlier than chilling within the fridge for a minimum of 5.
Chill if Not Serving Proper Away: This pie isn’t meant to be left at room temperature. Until you’re slicing and serving it as quickly as you add the whipped cream, return it to the fridge till you’re able to get pleasure from it.

A homemade key lime pie inside of a pie dish with a green kitchen towel underneath the dish and swirls of whipped cream on top of the pie filling

Storage Directions

This pie ought to be stored in an hermetic container within the fridge. Get pleasure from it inside 4-5 days for the very best outcomes. I’m keen to guess it’ll be gone properly earlier than then!

Can I Freeze This?

Sure, you may freeze it. I like to recommend freezing it with out the whipped cream. Flash freeze it for about an hour, then wrap it in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze for as much as 3 months, then thaw within the fridge previous to serving. High with whipped cream earlier than serving.

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