Monday, September 23, 2013

Singing Happy Birthday, off Key - Key Lime Pie in a P-309

I make no bones about it, I love pie.  LOVE it!  So anytime one of my family members asks for birthday pie, instead of cake, I get all kinds of happy.  I enjoy making pie, not to mention eating pie.  So it's a win win situation all around.

This year, my mother requested a traditional Key Lime pie.  This tends to be somewhat on the difficult side, since Key Limes are seasonal, unlike the standard Persian variety.  It is VERY important when making Key Lime pie, to use KEY limes.  They are much more tart, without the astringent bitterness found in the standard Persian lime.  Yes, very important to use the proper lime.

As luck would have it, there is a brand of bottled Key lime juice on the market that you can use in a pinch. (and I have had to use it on more than one occasion)

You still have to use lime zest from a Persian Lime, but it's OK, it's all good. If you really want a treat, get yourself a Makrut (kaffir) lime and use the zest from that for an exotic spin on the Key Lime pie. (do not attempt to use the juice from a Kaffir Lime though, there isn't much and it's not all that tasty)

Since it's my mother's pie, I decided to go ahead and use one of my Corningware Pie plate (P-309) simply because I like the clean white look of the pie plate.

It just looks more classy to me than the normal clear glass pie dishes and I refuse to use metal pie plates.  Granted, I was raised on glass pie plates, cause mom and grandma wanted to SEE the bottom crust to make sure is was brown enough before removing the pie from the oven.  Key Lime pie, though, is usually entails a cookie crust, so this becomes a non-issue for the opacity of a Corningware Pie plate.  :-)

Key Lime Pie

8 oz Vanilla Wafers, crushed
2 TB Sugar
Pinch of Salt
Zest of 1/2 a Persian Lime or 3 Key Limes (they are significantly smaller)
4 TB Unsalted Butter, melted

3 large Egg Yolks
Zest of 1/2 Persian Lime or 3 Key Limes
Pinch of Salt
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2/3 cup Key Lime Juice

Corningware 9 1/2 inch Pie Plate (P-309)
Pyrex #443 Cinderella Bowl (it will make pouring the filling into the crust a little easier)

Preheat the oven to 400F degrees.

Place the Vanilla Wafers in a Zip-lock Bag, and crush with a rolling pin, then move to a bowl.

You can use a food processor for this, but I like to leave mine fairly coarse, cause I like a little crunch in my crust.

Add Sugar, Salt and Lime Zest.

Mix with a fork to incorporate it well.

Drizzle with melted Butter and stir with a fork to coat the crumbs....

When the mixture will clump when squeezed, you have mixed enough.

Pour the crumb mixture into the Corningware Pie Plate (P-309)

Press the crumb mixture down over the bottom and up the sides of the plate. (you can use a glass if you choose)

Toss the Pie Plate (P-309) into the oven and bake for 10 minutes (Just until the edges begin to brown).

When you remove the crust from the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350F degrees.Place the Egg Yolks in the clean bowl.

Whisk until pale.
Add Lime Zest and whisk again.

Slowly add the Sweetened Condense Milk, whisking constantly, then continue whisking for about 3 minutes to ensure everything is well combined.


Again, whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in the Key Lime juice.

Continue whisking until everything is combined, then stop (the acidity of the Key Lime juice will begin to "set" the Egg Yolks) and immediately pour the filling into the warm cookie crust.

Smooth the top slightly with a spatula.

Place in the oven for 10 minutes to ensure the Egg Yolks are cooked.

(It doesn't take long, between the acid in the Lime Juice and the Heat from the oven, the Egg Yolks will be completely "cooked")
Remove the pie from the oven and cool to room temperature before chilling for at least 2 hours (you can freeze the pie if you like)
Cut a big slice and sing Happy Birthday to your Mamma!


Where is your Corningware??
~~

P.S.  Don't forget to enter the "Sidekickin' it Old School" giveaway...  Entries must be received before Sept. 30, 11:59 PDT

1 comment:

  1. This pie looks sub(lime), sorry, it was just too hard to resist.

    ReplyDelete

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