make it monday: key lime pie

If you have ever been to a restaurant in Florida, particularly a touristy one...it is almost guaranteed that key lime pie is on the dessert menu. After sampling *lots* of them, I thought I didn't really like key lime pie...and then one day it occurred to me that I just haven't had THE key lime pie...the one that you finish off (every last crumb) and say now *that* is how key lime pie should taste. Shaun and others in my family insist that Publix, the grocery store here, has a good one, but I didn't quite think so. I thought I could make a better one, and Shaun challenged me to do just that. After scouring the internet for recipes and reading reviews of them, I found one that looked promising, but it called for a store bought crust, which wouldn't do at all;) So I found a homemade graham cracker crust to go with my filling, and homemade whipped cream:) I am happy to say that this one was great! I don't know if it is the best recipe out there, probably not, but it is the best key lime pie we have had:)

And you will just have to excuse the picture...I tried to get a more clean looking piece, but this was the best...and I was being a bit impatient because I really wanted to eat it:) I told myself I would get a better picture later in the weekend, but somehow the whole pie was gone before I could do that;)

so here you go:

Key Lime Pie

Crust: 

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 9-10 large crackers)

6 tbsp melted butter

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/3 cup of sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Crush graham crackers until really fine (You can place them in a gallon size ziploc bag and roll a rolling pin over the bag).

3. Mix ingredients together. in medium bowl.

4. Using the back of a spoon, press into 9 inch pie dish. Make sure to press up the edges as well, making it nice and even all across.

5. Bake for 7 minutes.

While your crust is baking, you can start on the filling.

Filling:

3 cups sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup key lime juice (in my grocery store it is with the juice boxes/bottles of juice)

1 tbsp grated lime zest

1. Mix all ingredients together in a medium size bowl.

2. When crust is done, let the oven come down to 350 degrees. Pour filling into crust.

3. Bake 5-8 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles burst on the surface of the pie.

4. Chill pie thoroughly and cover with whipped cream before serving.

*We probably had it in the refrigerator about 3 hours before we ate it...but after the kids were in bed, Shaun and I snuck another piece and that piece was so much better, I think because it had longer to chill?

Whipped Cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste to get those pretty flecks!)

1 tbsp confectioners sugar

1. Before making whipped cream, I always stick my beaters and bowl in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

2. Add all ingredients into bowl, beat until stiff peaks form...but don't beat it so long that it looks like butter;)

Enjoy!

sources: Pie Filling and Crust