Key Lime Pie

I recently purchased some key limes 

and I realized this week that I hadn't used them yet.

Luckily, my good friend Martha e-mailed me a recipe for

Key Lime Bars

I wanted to make a pie so I made a few adjustments to the recipe.

You'll need 1 1/2 c finely ground graham cracker crumbs

1/3 c sugar

5 T unsalted butter, melted

3 large egg yolks

2/3 c fresh key lime juice -

the recipe says that's approx. 23 key limes

1 can sweetened condensed milk (14oz)

1/4 c heavy cream

2 key limes for garnishing

*Martha calls for lime zest but I didn't' really care for it

 Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar & melted butter

 Press into a greased pan of your choice.

I was eager to use my vintage hexagon plate for this recipe!

 Smush the bottom of the pie crust first and do the edges second.

*Smush is a very technical term for this process :)

 Once crust is in place, bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Let me tell you a few things that I learned about key limes:

They are full of seeds

They have tough skin

They don't have that much juice in them so you have to squeeze A LOT of them.

A strainer is a must when juicing them.

 I squeezed my entire bag of key limes but didn't have enough lime juice.

I supplemented with some store bought key lime juice.

 Whisk egg yolks for about 5 minutes until very thick.

Add in a steady stream of milk and continue mixing until it thickens again.

Repeat with lime juice.

 Pour filling into baked crust that has completely cooled.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until set.

*I initially forgot this step, was eager to be done with the pie

and stuck it in the fridge.  

About 15 minutes later I realized that I was supposed to BAKE it!

So I quickly stuck it in the oven.  No harm... right??

 Let chill in fridge for at least 4 hours before serving.

 Great texture.

I served with whipped cream and berries.

I ran out of key limes so I didn't have any to garnish my pie with.

Whitney's tips:

The pie was very tart, next time I will cut the lime juice to 1/3 c.

Give Martha's bars a try for next time.