BA’s Best: Key Lime Pie
This is actually the quickest pie dish I’m ever going to throw your way, so take full advantage now (especially because those little tartlets are QUITE the faff and a half). No pastry, barely any cooking (other than some quick oven time), and a thorough chill in the fridge prior to slicing. It’s a delightful summer dessert when served cold and eaten in a park between sips of icy Riesling. Plus the taste! Tangy and sweet with a texture that ethereally falls somewhere between cheesecake and mousse (so, the intersection between amazing and dreamy). I’m seriously considering putting this recipe in my regular rotation of quick potluck desserts, that's how happy it made me.
BA’s Best: Key Lime Pie
Taken from BA’s Best arsenal
Makes 1 pie (serves 8-10)
Ingredients:
Crust:
14 large graham crackers (this is equivalent to 28 graham crackers if you buy the kind that already come in small squares versus long rectangles)
4 tbsp (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted
4 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 tbsp white sugar
½ tsp kosher salt
Filling and Assembly:
4 large egg yolks
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk (this equals ~1 + 2/3 cans if you can only find the 300 ml cans)
2 tsp freshly grated lime zest + more for garnishing
¾ cup fresh lime juice (preferably key limes, in which case you’ll need ~2 lb)
Pinch of kosher salt
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
¼ cup powdered sugar
1 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
1 tbsp dark rum (optional, but encouraged)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Using your hands, crush the graham crackers in a large bowl until coarsely ground but still texturally varied (this is seriously exfoliation station – your hands will feel like butter after crushing all those crunchy crackers). Add the melted butter, coconut oil, sugar, and salt, mixing until well blended (it should look and feel like coarse, wet sand). Transfer to a pie dish and use your fingers and the underside of a flat measuring cup to press the mixture evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the dish. Bake the crust, rotating from front-to-back halfway through cooking, until golden brown and the crumbs are set, ~12–15 minutes. Let cool completely.
Meanwhile start on the filling for this beauty. Use an electric/stand mixer set on medium speed to beat the egg yolks and condensed milk in a large bowl until pale and almost doubled in volume, ~5 minutes. Whisk in the lime zest, lime juice, and salt. Pour into the crust once cooled. Carefully transfer to the oven and bake until the filling barely jiggles and is starting to slightly puff around the edges, ~15–20 minutes. Let cool completely, preferably allowing for a post-cooling stint in the fridge (since this is the kind of pie that tastes delicious when chilled thoroughly). When ready to serve, whip the cream and powdered sugar in a large bowl until stiff peaks form. Gently whisk in the Greek yogurt and rum (if using). Dollop mounds of cream onto the chilled pie, creating dramatic peaks and valleys with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Garnish with lime zest and slices of lime, if desired. You can do the whipped cream part up to four hours ahead of serving, and the baked crust and curd up to 2 days ahead. When slicing, don’t be panicked if the first slice comes out looking all sloppy – just really clean up the crumbly edges, wipe your knife and marvel as the next slices prove to be glorious.
