We had a couple of key lime trees in my yard when I was growing up. And Key lime pie was served often. Key lime pie is never green, but rather a natural creamy yellow. it’s always made with small, round key limes, rather than the large Persian limes found in grocery stores. And any Key lime pie worth its weight—and taste—is made with sweetened condensed milk. Never milk. That is because milk was unavailable in the Florida Keys until the 1930s with the opening of the overseas highway when tank trunks carrying ice could get to the region. And after much debate the Key Lime Pie was made Florida’s official pie in 2006. But by the time it became the official pie, I was already a transplanted Floridian into Nebraska. Thank goodness I can get bottled real key limes because nothing else will compare.
Florida Key Lime Pie
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
1 cup fresh Key lime juice
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Combine first 3 ingredients.
Press into a 9-inch pie plate.
Bake pie crust at 350°F for 10 minutes or until lightly browned; cool.
Stir together sweetened condensed milk and lime juice until blended.
Pour into prepared crust. Set aside.
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar at high speed with an electric mixer just until foamy.
Add granulated sugar gradually, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until soft peaks form and sugar dissolves (2 to 4 minutes).
Spread meringue over filling.
Bake at 325° for 25 to 28 minutes.
Chill 8 hours.
Bottled Key lime juice may be substituted for fresh juice.