Key Lime Pie for Hungry Guests

So when asking my mother what I should make for Christmas dessert, the first response was "lemon marang!" I said, "Mom, what is MARANG!?"

I told her I wasn't a huge fan of lemon meringue. She then proceeded to ask me why I ask her what to make if I'm not going to make what she suggests? Hmmm...valid point mother. She said, "I don't know, key lime?" This I agreed to. Key lime pie is one of my favorite summer treats. I feel like it's more fitting for the warmer months of the year, however, I wasn't going to turn this one down.

This was my second time making key lime pie except this time I used a different recipe. I have become a huge fan of Joy of Baking's website and have used many of her recipes over the course of my journey here in the blogging world. I decided to try her key lime pie recipe out this time.

The first time I made the pie, I used a meringue topping in contrast to a whipped cream topping. That was my first time making meringue in general so I was a tad nervous. While baking the meringue on top of the pie, I noticed it was extracting some watery substance onto the top of my pie. It was a bit concerning as no one likes watery pie...however, it was extremely tasty when we bit into the final product.

Joy of Baking's recipe included a whipped cream topping this time. The pie is EXTREMELY easy and all recipes for it are really similar. The main ingredients in the pie are SWEETENED condensed milk, egg yolks, FRESH lime juice, and lime zest. That is it! The yolks and condensed milk make the pie seem pretty fattening, but it also makes it absolutely creamy and delish.

If you are making your own crust, I'd recommend buying actual honey graham crackers and crushing them in a food processor. In my case, I didn't get my food processor until Christmas morning so I had to deal with already crushed grahams. 1 1/2 cups of grahams, 6 tbsp. of melted butter, and 2 tbsp. sugar is all it takes to make a 9 inch crust for this pie (or any other pie that calls for a 9 inch graham cracker crust).

I used regular limes (the juice from 3-4 of them) in this recipe since the grocery store I went to did not have key limes. Key limes are really small and round so you would be able to tell the difference between those and regular limes. Key limes are also higher in acidity so it makes the pie more tart. I just used a tad more juice and zest from the limes to make it as tart as I wanted it to be.

This pie is so easy and only needs to cook for about 15 minutes. You want to make sure that the pie is "just set" to know that it is done. Set means that it is still a little jiggly but the top of the pie does not shift. You will be done in no more than 45 minutes!

After it is done cooling COMPLETELY in the fridge (I like to leave it over night) you can make the whipped cream and top the pie with it. I piped the whipped cream on Christmas day right before serving the pie to our guests.

REMEMBER! Don't eat the green stuff :)

Shawn is still not old enough for pie, but this was his FIRST Christmas!