Sunday, January 8, 2012

Wrapping Up with Key Lime Pie


LUCY BURDETTE: We're going to wrap up this week with a taste of Key West, beginning naturally, with a recipe for Key Lime pie. This one was adapted from AllRecipes--and it's pretty standard to the breed.

KEY LIME PIE

5 egg yolks, beaten
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup key lime juice
1 (9 inch) graham cracker crust
(I use the recipe in the Joy of Cooking--it's as simple as whirling graham crackers in the food processor, then adding some sugar and melted butter and pressing it into the pan.)

Directions for filling and baking:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
Combine the egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk and lime juice. Mix well. Pour into unbaked graham cracker shell.
Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Allow to cool. Top with sweetened whipped cream and garnish with lime slices. Or you can make a meringue as topping, but neither my character Hayley nor I have had the nerve to try that!

And by the way, the photo to the right is the actual KLP dessert served by Louie's Backyard, a well-known restaurant in KW.

Now, while your pie is in the oven, you have time to make a cup of coffee and watch Dominique the cat man and his flying house cats.

http://youtu.be/nyKxbua9miM

And finally, while there have been giveaways of AN APPETITE FOR MURDER on various blogs this week, we haven't done one here. So all commenters today will be entered into a drawing for a signed copy. Good luck!

29 comments:

  1. I can't wait to devour this book!

    Isn't it interesting how Key Limes and Myers lemons can impart such a different taste than the standard lime and lemon?

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  2. Hi - I love Key Lime pie, but have never made one. Now I probably will! My better half makes wonder meringue! Thanks for the recipe. Dee

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  3. MitMoi, I do not ever think I've had a Myers lemon, though I've read about them. Will have to correct that!

    Gram, you lucky woman!!

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  4. I love the way the picture from Louie's Backyard "dressed up" the pie, but key lime is good and time and any way!

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  5. That pie looks delicious! All of us in colder climes could use a taste of Key West right now! Can't wait to read Appetite for Murder. I devoured your advice columnist series!

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  6. When you say lime juice, do you mean REAL pucker your mouth lime juice squeezed from a lime? Or somethig like margarita mix? (Oooo, that sounds good -- margarita pie.) I always order KLP out but have never made it. Sounds so easy.

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  7. Please, squeeze the lime from limes! The purist says. (It's like using canned orange juice as compared to fresh or even frozen.)

    But let's talk CRUSTS. Yes, butter! Do you pre-bake the crust at all before you fill and bake it, Lucy?

    Thanks for the link to the cat man. I'd have said it as impossible.

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  8. No food processor here, so would it work to prepare the graham crackers in a blender? (Would it be a sacrilege to buy a prepared graham cracker crust? I can't remember what I did the one and only time I made a Key Lime pie; I just remember eating it!)

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  9. Key Lime Cake is also a family favorite. It is an old recipe from Bon Appetit.

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  10. I agree--don't need fancy dressing on KLP!

    Thank you Peg for the kind words about Advice Column mysteries--that character was a good cook too:)

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  11. Yes please Austin, limes from limes, and they should technically be Key limes, which are smaller and a little more tart.

    Deb, maybe a blender would work. You could also try putting gc in a plastic bag and crushing them with a rolling pin. And people do buy crusts and live to tell the tale:).

    Robin do you have a link for key lime cake? I'm doing a blog next week on Mystery Lovers Kitchen for lime sponge cake but would love to have another option!

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  12. Oh yum! A taste of summer. Lucy, what's the sauce on the plate in the one from Louie's Backyard? It couldn't be chocolate. Berry sauce?

    ~ Krista

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  13. I can't eat KLM, (diabetic), but I sure can read about it and drool. Now I really can't wait to read your book!

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  14. Oh, Lucy, I am now even more determined to come to KW. LOVE the cat man! I watched it half an hour ago and am still laughing. Where else could anyone so totally bonkers make a living?

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  15. do try the meringue - it's wicked easy

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  16. You had to do it the month I decided I had to give up white foods as my New Year's resolution! We just did an event where the dessert was key lime tarts. I allowed myself the filling only. It was good but this sounds better.

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  17. We ate key lime pie every chance we got when we went to the Everglades and the Keys!

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  18. Yum--can't wait to try the recipe and to read the book. Although, truth be told, I'm better at reading than cooking!

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  19. I look forward to trying the recipe and reading the book! :)

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  20. Key lime juice is crucial! No matter what the "geniuses" at Cook's Illustrated say, regular Persian lime juice is NOT an acceptable substitute! If you can't find Key limes, it's okay to use Nellie and Joe's Key lime juice instead (look on the top shelf at the grocery store near the lemon juice).

    For funzies, make your crust with crushed vanilla wafers instead of graham crackers. Whipped cream is okay, meringue is meh. But whatever you do, resist the urge to use food coloring. Real Key lime pie is YELLOW. Anything else is fake, fake, fake!

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  21. Blogger ate my original post, trying again:

    Can't wait to read your latest book!

    Lucy, this is similar to how I make KLP, tho' I prebake my homemade crust for 8-10 mins. then cool it before filling, to which I've also added the zest of about half a lime, 'cuz I like it tart. Think I was inspired by Joe's Stone Crab recipe.

    Oh, and here's a link to a wickedly good Key Lime Bundt Cake, with Margarita Icing: http://www.cookiemadness.net/2009/05/key-lime-bundt-cake-with-margarita-icing/

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  22. Mimi, I was just about to ask if anyone had tried N&J's Key Lime Juice! I've had that on my Amazon Wish List for months now! May actually order it soon!

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  23. Jayna,
    I like the sound of Key Lime tarts. Otherwise I might devour the whole pie.

    This sounds delicious Roberta, and I just happen to have grahm crackers in my pantry.

    I think you've got an awesome combination with Key West and murder. Sort of like Jimmy Buffet and the BVI.

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  24. I've had this pie at Louie's Backyard and it's pretty good. If I'm not mistaken, Key Lime are very tart and Myers are mildly flavored. Would love to read the book.

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  25. Made a KLP last week - used Nellie & Joe's key lime juice and a Keebler's ready-crust. It's a very popular dessert at our house. So easy - and so good! I'll make another pie to have while reading your book.

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  26. A taste of key lime pie should bite back, in an ever so delightful way.

    If you squeeze out the key limes yourself, yeah, your paper cuts will sting but your skin will be soft. Lime juice is an ingredient of the pricey $kincream, Creme do la Mer.

    Key lime juice does come bottled, if you can't find the little gems at your local store.

    The local grocery store chain used to sell GREEN key lime pie. (No, no, no, no.) Key lime pie is always yellow.

    As a matter of fact, I AM a key lime pie snob. :) :)

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  27. Key lime is to lime as meyer lemon is to lemon? Yum.

    Yay, Lucy!

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  28. Just checked back in again. I'm glad it's not a capital offense to use a premade crust! Whew! Seriously, because of some problems with My Lovely Spine, I try to cut out any steps that are unnecessary in baking or cooking. And I am dying to try your Key Lime Pie recipe! (Forgive me for the following - but maybe it's in poor taste to say "Dying" to try a recipe from a food-related murder mystery:-) Okay,sorry! I will now go to bed, but first I will put your book on my shopping list!

    Good Night All!

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  29. Thank you all for commenting about key lime pie! Especially thanks to Rhonda for the skin product tip:)

    We put your names in a hat and drew this one out: Lynne! Please contact me lucyburdette at gmail.com and I'll get your book in the mail.

    Happy Monday everyone!

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