KEY LIME PIE

Traditional lime pie dessert from the Florida Keys

This very easy custard pie originated in the Florida Keys in the 1800's when fresh ingredients other than the local limes were hard to come by. See the notes for information on some of the ingredients.

Ingredients

(One 8-inch pie)

Procedure

  1. Separate the eggs. You'll be whipping the whites, so put them in a large enough bowl.
  2. Combine the egg yolks, the condensed milk, and the juice, and stir until thoroughly combined. The acidity of the juice thickens the milk and eggs into a custard.
  3. Add a pinch of sugar to the egg whites, and beat them until stiff but not dry.
  4. Spoon the custard into the pie crust and even it out.
  5. Spoon the beaten egg whites on top of the custard and even it out so it looks pretty.
  6. Chill before serving. If you like, run the pie under a hot broiler for a minute until the egg whites are slightly browned. (This is primarily for appearance, it doesn't affect the flavor much.)

Notes

Everybody in the Florida Keys seems to have a variant of this recipe. It shows up on postcards, place mats, lime juice bottles, and guide books. Some people fold a little of the beaten egg white into the custard to make it lighter. Some put sweetened whipped cream on top rather than egg white. Some use two or four eggs.

Traditionally, this pie is made from the juice of the Key lime, a small yellow citrus fruit quite different from the larger and more familiar Persian lime. Key limes are very sensitive to cold and in the U.S. have never been grown above the very southern tip of Florida. Bad weather and disease have killed off so many of them that the only remaining grove is a private one on one of the Keys, so you cannot buy Key lime juice in the U.S. any more. Key limes are still grown widely in South America and probably elsewhere on other continents.

There is something called "Key West lime juice" sold in pint bottles which everybody uses instead now, which seems to be regular lime juice slightly concentrated. It's widely available in Florida and occasionally elsewhere in the U.S. It's also available via mail order from Key West Aloe, telephone +1 305 294 5592 or 800-327-5866. In a pinch, you can substitute regular lime juice, though it doesn't produce quite the bright yellow custard that traditionalists like. You may have to use extra juice, because Persian limes are less acidic than Key limes.

Rating


Difficulty: easy.
Time: 20 minutes preparation, 1-2 hours chilling.
Precision: approximate measurement OK.

Contributor

 
John Levine 
Interactive Systems Corp, Boston, Massachusetts, USA 
johnl@ima.isc.com
Recipe last modified: 3 Jan 88

Original header

Path: decwrl!recipes
From: johnl@ima.ISC.COM (John R. Levine)
Newsgroups: alt.gourmand
Subject: RECIPE: Key lime pie
Message-ID: <14254@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Date: 29 Jul 88 05:33:54 GMT
Sender: recipes@decwrl.DEC.COM
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Organization: Interactive Systems Corp, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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