Florida’s favorite pie has complicatedhistory
In Saving Southern Recipes, Southern Kitchen’s Kate Williams explores the deep heritage of Southern cooking through the lens of passeddown, old family recipes.
It’snotaneasy tasktotrack down a definitive recipe for Key lime pie. It’s evenmore difficult tosussout its history.
The most realistic story is that thefirst such“pies” were crustless and made from a mixture of lime juice, pelicaneggs andsweetened condensedmilk. Thesewere said to be assembled by sponge fishermen working in the ocean around the Keys, and were made without needing heat — the acid in the juice reacts with the eggs to thickenthemixture. Another theory is that Key lime pie was an invention of botanist Jack Simons. Yet another is that the first such pie was baked by a woman known as “Aunt Sally,” who was a cook in themansion ofWilliam Curry, a hardwaremagnate and the first person to bring sweetened condensed milk to the Keys in the mid19th century.
Aunt Sally could verywell have been the first cook to put a lime-and-condensed milk custard inside of a crust, but she probably got the idea for the filling from the fishermen. Its topping is also a matter of debate. While I’dbetoneasy-to-whip cream as the original topping, you’re still likely to encounter plenty of Floridianswho claim that true Key lime pie is always topped with a toasted meringue.
Butwhatever the topping on the original pie, we know that the fillingwas certainly made with a very different lime than what is used in most American kitchens today. Most of us can only get regular ol’ Persian limes in our grocery stores.
And even if you do find Key limes, they’re likely not even from Florida — they’re most often shipped in from Mexico or California, and, in my experience, tend to be rock hard.
Unfortunately, Persian limes don’t taste exactly like the Key variety; they’re more acidic and make a pie that needs extra sugar from a meringue and a graham cracker crust for balance. If, however, youwant to bake a pie that tastes more like the original, simply use amix of Persian limeandlemonjuice. (Sorry, purists.) A touch of lemon will temper and balance the tart lime without needing toresort todumping evenmore sugar intothedessert. Feel free to fiddlewith the proportions below— Key lime pie is easy enough that you should have no trouble baking through as many as you need in order to land on your perfect ratio.
KEYLIMEPIE
14honeygrahamcrackers,
brokeninto2-inchpieces ⅓ cupsugar 6tablespoonsunsalted
butter, melted 1 (14-ounce) can sweetenedcondensed milk 4largeeggyolks 71/2tablespoonsfreshlime
juice 21/2tablespoonsfresh
lemonjuice 1cupheavycream, chilled Freshlimezest, forgarnish
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a food processor, process the grahamcrackers to formfine crumbs. Transfer 11/2cups to amedium bowl; discardany extra. Using a fork, stir in the sugarand melted butter. The mixture should have the consistency ofwet sand. Pour the graham cracker mixture into a 9-inch pie plateand, using the bottomofa smallmeasuring cup, pack the mixture across the bottomand up the sides of the pie plate. Bake until just starting to brown, 10to 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
In a secondmedium bowl, whisk together the condensed milkand the egg yolks untilsmooth. Whisk in the lemon and lime juice until smooth. Pour the filling into the crust and bake until set, about 15 minutes. Return to the wire rack to cool to roomtemperature and then refrigerate, uncovered, overnight.
Whenyou’re ready to serve, whip the creamto slightly-firmer-than-soft peaks. Dollop the creamon topof the pie and garnish with lime zest. Serves8. Per serving: 505 calories (percent of calories fromfat, 37), 10 grams protein, 69 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 21 grams fat (12 grams saturated), 149milligrams cholesterol, 282 milligrams sodium.