Key lime pie is a great summer dessert recipe and so easy & delicious to make. It’s made with a buttery sweet salty pretzel crust which is the perfect counterpart to the sweet tart custard like filling.
It requires just a few simple ingredients but the results look like it came out of a 5 star restaurant. A light and citrusy summer desert that cleanses the palate.
Theres 4 things the summer brings to south Florida. Heat, humidity, hurricanes & key limes. This recipe contains limes that came from Coral Gables, Florida.
Who knew key lime pie had a history & controversy surrounding it? Just about every food or ingredient we eat has a history attached to it. Call me weird, but I love learning about the history and origins of food.
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Things you might not know about key lime pie:
- It’s the official pie of the state of Florida.
- A key lime pie is yellow not green. The egg yolks give key lime pie its yellow color.
- Key limes are much smaller than Persian limes. They also contain seeds and take on a yellow color when they fully ripen.
- Key limes are in season in Florida from June through September.
- Key limes are much more aromatic than Persian limes.
- You can use Persian limes in a Key Lime pie, but if you have them around use them. You can also purchase Key Lime Juice.
- Some people complain about how long it takes to squeeze key limes, but it didn’t take long at all and I probably used about 12-15 key limes to get 1/2 cup of juice for the recipe. You can also buy a citrus juicer to make things a bit easier on you.
Key Lime Pie History and Controversy:
Local key west legend has it that a woman named Aunt sally invented the key lime pie in the late 1800’s . She was allegedly a cook for Florida’s first self made millionaire named “Rich” Bill Curry and made the pie for him whenever she could. The pie is still made at the Curry mansion today.
Historians dispute this story as no actual record of Aunt Sally or her recipe concretely exist. They contend it was the sponge fisherman who invented the initial version of key lime pie.
They stayed out at sea for long periods of time and had rations of crackers, eggs, sugar, canned milk, and citrus fruit.
They would mix a concoction of sweetened condensed milk, sugar, and eggs and spread it on crackers for a meal because refrigeration didn’t exist and they couldn’t cook on the boat.
The acid in the egg actually coagulates & cooks the eggs. Some say the original pie wasn’t even cooked.
Others believe the fisherman showed aunt sally this trick and she took that knowledge back to her kitchen and perfected the famous Key lime pie.
And the third and final dispute comes from a cookbook author who a few years back, stated that the key lime pie was invented by The Borden Co. as a riff of a lemon tart recipe in a cookbook in 1930’s in order to sell more sweetened condensed milk.
Many believe sweetened condensed milk wasn’t around at the time Aunt Sally laid claim to her famous pie, but that my friends would be false.
Gail Bordon the owner of the Bordon Company invented sweetened condensed milk in the 1850’s which became very popular during and after the civil war.
The gov’t purchased and distributed sweetened condensed milk in large quantities for the Union soldiers as a way of feeding them on the field.
So you see, sweetened condensed mils was around the time Aunt Sally would have used it in her recipe, and it is very possible Aunt Sally was a real person and invented the Key Lime pie.
And that my friends is good enough for me. I really don’t care who invented, I’m just glad someone did because I really love key lime pie.
This recipe has a salty sweet crust that goes perfectly with the tart sweet custard like filling. I hope you enjoy this recipe.
You might also like these summer recipes as well:
Key Lime Pie with Salty Sweet Pretzel Crust
Ingredients
- FOR THE FILLING:
- 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup key lime juice (preferably from fresh key limes but Persian limes will work too taste will be less tart.)
- FOR THE CRUST:
- 1 1/2 cups crushed pretzels
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (or 8 Tablespoons) melted butter
- FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM:
- 1 cup very cold heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 Tablespoon sugar
Instructions
- FOR THE FILLING:
- In a large bowl add the sweetened condensed milk.
- With either a whisk or hand mixer begin whipping on low speed adding one egg yolk at a time and incorporate into the condensed milk before adding next egg. Keep adding until all egg yolks are added and incorporated.
- Add in 1/2 cup fresh squeezed key lime juice and mix on medium high speed for about 5 minutes until mixture looks thick.
- Cover and refrigerate.
- FOR THE PIE CRUST:
- Preheat oven to 350° F
- Finely crush pretzels with a mini food processor or crush by hand with a rolling pin in a ziplock bag until you have a cup and a half.
- Pour into a bowl and add 1/4 cup brown sugar and 8 Tablespoons of melted butter.
- Mix until all the butter is soaked and the pretzels are moist.
- Pour mixture into a 7-9″ pie pan. You may not need all the pretzel mixture depending on the size of your pie pan.
- Smash down the mixture with your hands firmly (or a flat bottomed object like a measuring cup) until the mixture is firmly and evenly distributed on the bottom and sides of the pan.
- Bake at 350° F on middle rack for 8-10 minutes
- Cool crust for 10 minutes.
- Leave oven on 350° F.
- FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM:
- With a stand mixer, hand mixer, or whisk pour in 1 cup very cold heavy whipping cream and 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract.)
- Begin whipping on low speed and slowly increase speed as the cream thickens.
- When the cream begins to form soft peaks add 1 Tablespoon sugar and finish whipping until cream forms stiff peaks.
- Don’t over whip or you will have a bowl full of butter.
- Transfer to a container with a lid and refrigerate until ready.
- When the crust has cooled (it’s okay if it feels slightly warm) add the key lime filling and smooth out evenly.
- Bake on middle rack at 350° F for 13-15 minutes. Middle should be jiggle a bit.
- Cool on wire rack then transfer to refrigerator until chilled at least 3 hours.
- Garnish with lime zest (optional) and whipped cream.
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