Key Lime Pie So Refreshing in Extreme Heat

It's incredibly hot out today, especially for late May. I feel very wilted, and when I feel this way I tend to crave things that are refreshing like frozen yogurt, iced coffee and key lime pie. There is something about the cold and creamy texture of the pie with the tart freshness of the lime that brings me to the tropics even on the coldest days. I understand why it's so popular in the Florida Keys where it's hot for most of the year. The great thing about key lime pie is that it requires very few ingredients and you don't really need "key limes" to have a great, authentic pie. Also you can substitute a store bought graham cracker crust for the homemade, thereby reducing the cooking time to 15 minutes and on a hot day you don't want the oven on all day long. Key lime pies have to cool in the fridge for at least 4 hours, so when it's really hot out I purchase individual mini graham cracker crusts, reduce the baking time to 10 minutes, and cooling time to 2 hours. The below recipe is so easy that my father was able to make a wonderful key lime pie using it!

Key Lime Pie

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (crumbled in a food processor)

½ cup granulated sugar

½ stick of butter melted

2 14oz cans of condensed milk

1 cup of key lime or lime juice (if using lime juice squeeze 1 lemon in addition to the lime juice)

2 whole eggs

Heavy Cream

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 tablespoon lime zest

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F

In a bowl mix the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and butter with your hands. Press mixture firmly into a 9 inch pie pan and bake until brown (15-20 minutes). Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temp before filling.

(You can eliminate the above step and just purchase a ready made graham cracker crust, but I must say that the homemade one does taste better)

Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees F

In a separate bowl, combine the condensed milk, lime juice, and eggs. Wisk until blended and place filling into the pie shell. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes and then cover with saran wrap and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

To serve, whip heavy cream with powdered sugar and then cover the pie with whipped cream and sprinkle lime zest as a garnish on top.