Really a lime pie. This is more practical than using true key limes, and I like the flavor of the full-sized limes better anyway. Rich as cheesecake, this recipe uses plenty of lime zest to give the pie a nice citrus bite.
If you’re serving this pie for desert after dinner, make the pie in the late morning or early afternoon to give the pie a chance to chill completely before serving.
Use a very sharp microplane zester for zesting the limes, and don’t shave too far into the lime surface or you will pick up too much of the bitter white inner skin beneath the thin green outer skin.
Makes: 8-10 servings
Time: About 70 minutes, plus several hours for chilling.
Ingredients
- 8 large limes. Reserve one lime and thin-slice later as garnish for serving
- Zest and juice the limes for minimum of 6 tablespoons of lime juice and 1.25 tablespoons lime zest
- 6 tablespoons of fresh-squeezed lime juice (requires 2-3 large limes)
- 2.5 tablespoons of lime zest (zest from about 5 large limes)
- 2 14 oz. (396g) cans of sweetened condensed milk
- 5 egg yolks
- 1.25 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups of ginger snap crumbs
- 2 tablespoons of dark brown sugar
- 1 stick of (.25 pound) of salted butter, melted
- 1.5 cups whipped cream for serving
For the ginger snap crust
- Chill a 9.5 inch Pyrex pie plate in the refrigerator.
- Use a stick of butter to wipe the inner surface of the chilled pie plate. Coat the surface throughly to prevent sticking later.
- In a mixing bowl combine the ginger snap crumbs, butter, and brown sugar.
- Press the crust mixture onto the sides and bottom of a buttered 9.5 inch pie plate.
Process
- In a large mixing bowl, with a hand mixer or by hand with a whisk:
- Combine the condensed milk and egg yolks and blend at low speed.
- Slowly add lime juice and zest, mixing until well blended.
- Pour into pie shell and bake 20 minutes at 250°F.
- Chill at least 2 hours (more if possible) before serving.
- Dress each slice with whipped cream, a lime slice, and twists or curls of lime zest.
Patrick Lynch 