Iris (one of my favorite people at work) left for another job this week and asked if she could request what baked good I would bring her as her going-away present.

I of course said yes and she replied by asking me to bake my favorite thing I make.  Instantly excited, I asked if she liked key lime pie.

She said yes, and I warned her mine was a little different…

Graham cracker crust rehearsal.

Don’t worry, they’ll die a quick death.

How can melted butter, graham cracker crumbs and sugar not be amazing?

Press it!

Failtastic limes.  whole foods ran out of key limes so normal

limes it was.

Cooling on the windowsill after a quick bake.

Look who greeted me when I went to grab the crusts!

Starting the filling… sugar and egg yolks.

My work out for the day.

Throw in some condensed milk, lime zest and lime juice.

Playing with making mini versions just for fun.

Whipped cream mis en place.  I love my fancy shmancy

vanilla extract.

Babies next to big momma.

Normally I just spread the whipped cream across, but I

wanted to get fancy this time.

Frozen Key Lime Pie

Based on Ina Garten’s recipe

Ingredients

nocoupons

• 8 full graham crackers
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

nocoupons

• 7 large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• the zest of 2 limes
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (it took me 7 limes)

For the decoration:

nocoupons

• 1 cup (1/2 pint) cold whipping cream
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• lime rind cut into strips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

1.) Pulse the graham crackers in the bowl of  a food processor or mini-chopper.  Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a bowl. Resist eating the entire thing. Press the crumbs into a 9-inch glass pie plate, making sure it’s even on the sides and bottom (it helps to lift the entire thing up and look on the bottom for any thin spots).  Bake for 8-10 min until fragrant and lightly toasty.

2.) While the crust cools, beat  the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer on high with the whip attachment (or in a normal bowl with a hand mixer) for 5 minutes until buttery yellow and very thick.   Add the zest, lime juice and condensed milk and beat on medium until mixed.  Pour into the shell (I always have leftover filling here) and freeze for a few hours before adding the whipped cream topping.

3.) For the whipped cream, beat the heavy cream on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and beat until thick and firm.  You can spread the entire bowl of whipped cream over the pie like Ina does, but I find it to be a bit too much, so I like to spread a thin layer across the top and then pipe decoratively along the edge. Add a few pieces of lime rind to the middle or a couple of wedges for decoration and then freeze, preferably 12 hours or overnight.

I let the pie thaw about 15-20 min before cutting/serving because it’s super hard right out of the freezer.

Note: For the mini key lime pies I simply used leftover mix from the crust and put about 1 1/2 tablespoons into each mini muffin cup.  I pressed them down using a shotglass and tried to get the crumbs up the sides a little, then baked them about 5 minutes.  I poured in the leftover filling, froze them, then ran a paring knife along the edge to pop them out, then piped on them and refroze them.

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