Key Lime Pi/e

This is a delicious, tangy pie that I really enjoyed making! You can use 4-5 regular limes but I used key limes (about 22). First, you make a graham cracker crust, then the key lime filling, and finally, top it off with some sweetened whipped cream and the pi symbol made with little key lime slices. Let's get started!!

To start off, gather and measure out your ingredients to make sure you have everything you need. For the crust, you will need graham crackers, melted butter, and sugar. For the filling, you will need egg yolks, lime juice, lime zest, and sweetened condensed milk. Finally, for the whipped cream topping, you will need heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar. I used the recipe here.

The crust is difficult. Mine crumbled a little, but you can prevent that. First put your graham crackers into a food processor and pulse a couple times until you get a fine powder. Now transfer to a mixing bowl and pour in the butter and sugar. The next step is to mix your crust mixture until it is slightly wet but still sticks together when your press it. DO NOT FORGET TO GREASE YOUR PAN! Now use your hands to pack it into the pie pan, but do not play around with it too much- it could crumble after baking. Be gentle. If you want, use a measuring cup or bowl to pack it in slightly. Now bake for a few minutes or until it looks like it is set.

Note: Before you put your crust mixture into the pie pan, if you feel that the mixture is too crumbly add some more melted butter.

Time for the filling. Pour the lime zest and lime juice into a large mixing bowl. Now add in the egg yolks, and right away, start beating the zest, juice, and egg yolks on high for about 1 minute. Now add in the sweetened condensed milk and beat on high for another minute or until you get a smooth consistency like the photo. Pour into your baked graham cracker crust. Now bake!!

Note: I recommend reducing the juice and/or zest amounts slightly because the pie comes out with a very strong key lime flavor. If that is how you like it, then you do not have to!

Whipped cream compliments a pie's rich flavors. Fresh whipped cream is even better! Once your pie is cooled and has been refrigerated for at least a few hours (I did mine overnight), make the topping. The whipped cream topping is simple, but you have to be careful not to overbeat the cream or you will get a curdled, chunky cream. Look at the pictures as a guide on how much to whip the cream. If you are just spooning the cream on top of the pie, beating the cream until soft peaks form is a good option (picture 4). However, if you would like to pipe it on like I did, beat it until stiff peaks form so the piped design holds its shape (pictures 5 and 6).

For the cream: Pour some heavy whipping cream into a chilled bowl. Make sure your beaters are chilled, too. Add some powdered sugar into the bowl. Now keep beating until you get the consistency you want.

This is the fun part! I cut some key lime slices and fitted a piping bag with a coupler and the Wilton 21 star tip. I arranged the lime slices into a pi symbol by having the slices overlap onto each other and the line on the right side has a slight curve (I just added an extra key lime slice). After that, I piped on 8 little swirls of whipped cream. You can do 12 or 6 if you want; I did 8 because I wanted to cut my pie into 8 slices. That way, there will be some cream on every slice.

The pie is finished! To cut a slice, take out a butter knife, a pie server, and a spatula. Dip the butter knife in warm water. Now cut through the pie and mark where the slice is. Use a spatula or butter knife to gently "peel" the part of the pie touching the pan off. Now using a pie server take the slice out of the pan and place into a dish.

This was a very fun and yummy pie to make! Above are some completed pie photos. Please give this pie a vote for the pi/e day contest!