Key Lime Pie
Key lime pie is an American dessert made of key lime juice, egg yolks, and sweetened condensed milk in a pie crust. The traditional Conch version uses the egg whites to make a meringue topping. The dish is named after the small key limes (Citrus aurantifolia ‘Swingle’) that are naturalized throughout the Florida Keys. While their thorns make them less tractable, and their thin yellow rind moreperishable, key limes are more tart and aromatic than the common Persian limes seen year round in most U.S. grocery stores.
Key lime juice, unlike regular lime juice, is a pale yellow. The filling in key lime pie is also yellow, largely due to the egg yolks.
During mixing, a reaction between the condensed milk and the acidic lime juice occurs which causes the filling to thicken on its own without requiring baking. Many early recipes for key lime pie did not instruct the cook ever to bake the pie, relying on this chemical reaction (called souring) to produce the proper consistency of the filling. The acid in the lime juice actually “cooks” the pie. Today, in the interest of safety due to consumption of raw eggs, pies of this nature are usually baked for a short time. The baking also thickens the texture more than the reaction alone.
The origin of Key lime pie has been traced back to the late 19th century in the Key West, Florida area. Its exact origins are unknown, but the first formal mention of Key Lime Pie as a recipe may have been made by William Curry, a ship salvager and Key West’s first millionaire; his cook, “Aunt Sally,” made the pie for him. If such is the case, however, it is also possible and maybe even probable that Sally adapted the recipe already created by local sponge fishermen. Sponge fishermen spent many contiguous days on their boats, and stored their food on board, including nutritional basics such as canned milk (which would not spoil without refrigeration), limes and eggs. Sponge fishermen on the sea would presumably not have access to an oven, and, similarly, the original recipe for key lime pie did not call forcooking the mixture of lime, milk, and eggs.
The first recipe for key lime pie was recorded in the 1930s. Key lime pie is made with canned sweetened condensed milk, since fresh milk was not a common commodity in the Florida Keys before modern refrigerated distribution methods. The creator of the frozen key lime pie is Fern Butters (1892-1975).
Recipe for Key Lime Pie
1 cup plain flour
2 teaspoons icing sugar
60g butter
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon water, approximately
FILLING
3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 cup (200g) ricotta cheese
3 eggs, separated
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
1/3 cup lime juice
Sift flour and icing sugar into bowl, rub in butter, stir in lemon juice and enough water to mix to a soft dough. Knead dough gently on lightly floured surface until smooth; cover, refrigerate 30 minutes. Roll dough between sheets of greaseproof paper large enough to fit 23cm pie plate; ease into dish, trim edge. Line pastry with paper, fill with dried beans or rice. Bake in moderately hot oven 10 minutes. Remove paper and beans; bake about further 7 minutes or until lightly browned; cool.
Pour filling into pastry case; bake in moderate oven about 25 minutes or until filling is set; cool.
Refrigerate pie until cold; dust with sifted icing sugar just before sewing.
Filling: Blend or process milk, cheese, egg yolks, rind and juice until smooth; transfer to large bowl. Beat egg whites in small bowl until soft peaks form, fold into lime mixture in 2 batches.
Serves 6 to 8.
Dessert Recipes with Bill & Sheila
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