Key Lime Pie: An easy dessert with just a few ingredients

Nora Ephron gave me some of my favourite movies - You’ve got Mail, Sleepless in Seattle, and Juile & Julia. She gave me this recipe as well- her book ‘Heartburn’ is filled with tiny recipes, and one of them was the ‘Key Lime Pie’. Key limes are associated with Florida, USA and are smaller and more acidic when compared to normal limes. This recipe is not made with key limes but with limes I simply got at the supermarket. After researching a bit, I was able to settle on this recipe from ‘The Guardian’ with some tweaks. It requires just a few ingredients and can be whipped up quickly.

Sweet and Tangy Key Lime Pie - A perfect dessert

Recipe

(Plenty for 3 to 4 people or 1 person who likes it a lot)

For the base

100g digestive biscuits - crushed to a powder

30g melted unsalted butter

A pinch of salt

For the filling

60ml of lime juice

1 tsp of lime zest

200ml of condensed milk

2 egg yolks

Method

In a bowl, crush the biscuits to a powder; it need not necessarily be very fine. Add the butter and salt into the biscuits and give it a good mix. Take a 20cm pie dish and line the pan with the biscuits, pressing it evenly across the pan. The biscuits won’t cover the entire side of the pan (image below), so make sure to press it evenly without thinning it. Bake this on a low rack in the microwave oven (Samsung microwave, Combination mode 2 which uses both microwave and hot blast at 180 °C) for about 2 minutes. Once done, carefully take it out and let it cool.

To make the filling, mix the lime juice and zest into the condensed milk and egg yolks. Make sure it is a nice homogeneous mixture. Once the base has cooled, gently pour the filling on top of the biscuit base. Spread it smoothly using a spatula. Pre-heat the microwave oven for about 45 seconds and then once again place the pie onto a low rack in the oven (Combination mode 2 at 180 °C) for about 30 seconds. Keep an eye on it as it may begin to bubble on the edges, indicating that it's too hot. Take it out and let it cool on the counter. Typically this pie doesn't need to be baked as the acidity of the lemon juice is enough to thicken the filling. However since raw eggs are used, it would be best to bake the pie for about 30 to 45 second.

Typically, the key lime pie doesn't need to be baked, but some recipes do.

For the whipped cream

3 tbsp of thick fresh cream - I used Amul Fresh cream. The trick is to place it in the freezer for a while. The cream will thicken and the water will separate out easily as it thaws first. 

1 tsp of sugar

Method: In a bowl whisk the thick cream (should be absolutely dry) and sugar vigorously until it begins to peak. This works faster if the bowl is placed over water with ice. 

Look at those layers.

Key lime pies are served cold so place it in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving. Serve with the whipped cream and a few sprinkles of lime zest and enjoy!