Cookaholics Bulletin Board

So I've been on the hunt for years for the holy grail of key lime pie recipes. DH especially loves it and although I've made many (including my previous fave, CI's key lime pie), I've never been able to get the "ahhh" moment we've had a few times in restaurants, when the filling has had the perfect amount of creaminess.

Enter Zoe Francois' recipe that has both sweetened condensed milk and cream cheese in it. WOW. It is perfection. And the graham cracker crust is even better than usual, too, I think b/c it calls for brown sugar instead of white.

Anyway, I made it with limes the first time and then for Easter I did it with meyer lemon juice (that I'd frozen a few weeks before after getting a big thing of them at Costco). All I can say is my hunt is finally over!

http://zoebakes.com/2015/02/02/key-lime-pie/

Emilie

Emilie,

I'm a traditionalist; not gonna convince me to add cream cheese. Although, to be fair, the "original" key lime pies would not have had graham cracker crusts either.

However, I've wondered about the brown sugar thing; I wasn't willing to experiment last time I made KLP, but maybe I will now.

My favorite is similar from Gayle's bakery (I have her cookbook) in Capitola, CA. You don't taste the cream cheese, but it adds a lot to the flavor. I wonder if this is where Zoe got her recipe

I looked at hers, and she bake hers, while mine is not baked, except for the crust. I'll have to try Zoe's.

Josh, I always use regular limes so that probably kicks me out of the traditional camp right there. All I know is it's soooo good. Actually though, I think I might like the lemon version even more. DH and I have been eating thin slivers of it the past several days because the thought of it being gone is so sad.

That's interesting to know that the original key lime pies didn't use a graham cracker crust. One of the restaurant versions that I'd tried to replicate has a more shortbread-type crust and I did find a good KLP recipe for that a few years ago in a Fine Cooking version. In fact that's often what I used with the CI filling. But the graham cracker one is so good with the brown sugar, I might have a hard time going back to the other.

Emilie

It is funny how certain things just hit you that you didn't even know you cared that much about. I am laughing at myself as I read this, because I have been to this thread about four times and keep stifling myself from answering.

I am sure it is very good and as long as you and your family like it that is what matters. But it isn't key lime pie with cream cheese or regular limes.

Key Lime Pie has three ingredients other than crust: Key Lime Juice, Sweetened Condensed Milk and Egg Yolks. The crust is always graham cracker. It never has meringue. It is never green.

However, I wouldn't mind a new Lime Pie recipe if you want to share. But I won't call it "Key" Lime. I might get kicked out of South Florida.

I seriously had no idea what a topic this was for me! Now I am wondering what other foods of other cuisines I am changing up and making other people think I am "messing up" their favorite things.

--Lisa

Lisa - I am definitely in agreement with ya! On another thread re: martinis, I went down your path; it is this, not that. Call it something else, drink whatever it is you are having and get creative, but unless it involves those ingredients with which it was invented, it ain't that.
Thanks for bringing this to the fore

Yes, I too like the simplicity of the "correct" key lime pie. It was developed to use a newfangled ingredient, sweetened condensed milk. I may start labeling the desserts I make for work Persian
Lime, because that's the lime juice we use.

The original key lime pie didn't use a crust at all. The whole point of it was to have a "no-bake" dessert for the Florida heat. So it was pretty much just a molded gel, with whip cream on top if you were well-off and had cream.

Ref: http://www.epicurious.com/archive/seaso ... y-lime-pie

Thanks Lisa for posting. I feel the same when folks add cilantro or hot peppers to Cuban food. Drives me nuts. I have wonderful memories of Key Lime Pies made by my aunt Emma when we'd visit her in Key West and later in West Hollywood.