With regards to the very best key lime pie recipes, I’ve fond reminiscences of 1 particularly—and, in fact, it dates again to center faculty. The Olive Backyard was residence to my youthful self’s peak-pie indulgences. Positive dinner was high quality, however what I couldn’t look forward to was dessert: a slice of black tie mousse cake and one among key lime pie. Piled excessive with whipped cream, the latter was a real pièce de résistance. Whereas I couldn’t inform you what really went into the dreamy-delicious pies of my youth, there’s one factor I do know for certain: My discerning dessert palette has solely advanced through the years.
With summer time in full swing, my dessert cravings lean vivid, zingy, and filled with zest. Sweets which might be refreshing on the finish of a meal however nonetheless fulfill the necessity for slightly deal with. The perfect key lime pie recipe checks all of the bins of a stellar summer time dessert. It’s one which celebrates the season and can hold everybody lingering across the desk a short while longer. To verify as soon as and for all what constitutes the very best key lime pie, I used to be greater than slightly excited to place a number of recipes to the bake-off check.
Guidelines of the Street
Usually, that is the place I inform y’all that each one recipes are adopted precisely as written with none changes for private style or taste preferences. That is nonetheless true, however for this specific bake-off, I made a half-serving of each recipe as a substitute of a full pie (my pie-loving coronary heart does have its limits!). I used a scale to weigh out the halves to make sure accuracy when baking. Simply making an attempt to reduce meals waste over right here! All pies had been baked the evening prior and tasted the subsequent day.
Rating Tips
My workforce of seven style testers all aligned on the next tips when rating every of the pies.
- Filling Taste. Vivid and zesty with out being too acidic or candy. Lime needs to be ahead however not overwhelming.
- Filling Texture. Creamy and clean, not too dense however agency sufficient to carry its form.
- Crust Texture. Ought to add a pleasant crunch with out detracting from the pie.
Most key lime pie recipes solely name for a handful of components. Limes, condensed milk, and egg yolks. Due to this, seeing slight variations in portions or extra components added to the delicate distinctions that made every recipe stand out.
Now for the very best half! Hold scrolling to find which recipe reigned supreme in our Key Lime Pie Bake-Off.
Once I first tried this recipe, I had to return and double-check that I hadn’t missed one thing, which normally isn’t an excellent begin. The good a part of this contender for the very best key lime pie recipe is that it’s virtually totally no-bake. The graham cracker crust is baked after which crammed and frozen. The remainder of it, nevertheless, we had a number of points with.
First, I had a number of style testers who weren’t so eager on the uncooked egg yolk state of affairs. Whereas there are some traditionalists who insist key lime pies be made with the raw filling, my workforce was unanimously anti-raw eggs. This additionally impacted the flavour as some famous it was slightly eggy.
The largest subject, nevertheless, was the feel. The recipe notes setting the pie out forward of slicing to be able to slice by means of, however the pie mainly melted inside half-hour (not excellent!). General, I just like the novelty of a frozen pie, however we had a number of structural qualms with this one. When you attempt it, eat it straight out of the freezer to make sure a strong pie.
Our notes on this pie had been really fairly constructive and everybody loved their slices. The pie filling flavors had been very well-balanced with out being too candy, and the style of lime was good as properly. There was some debate about whether or not the meringue topping was actually wanted. Whereas the salted vanilla meringue was tasty, most style testers most popular a whipped cream topping to the meringue.
As the one that assembled each single recipe, I believed it was loads of further effort and dishes to make meringue when whipped cream would have been completely high quality. (Although it was a good way to make use of up the leftover egg whites from utilizing solely yolks within the filling!) Ultimately, this pie recipe was good, however among the different recipes edged it out on technicalities.
To be clear: this can be a actually good key lime pie recipe. Nonetheless, I’ve to confess that I used to be skeptical once I found that it doesn’t use lime zest and consists of vanilla within the filling. However upon additional consideration (and extra intentional tasting), I discovered that the vanilla provides a beautiful, virtually floral savoriness to the filling.
Style testers famous that this one leaned on the slightly-sweeter facet, nevertheless it did fulfill the group’s many candy tooth. My testers who weren’t followers of key lime pie loved this one essentially the most as properly. Nonetheless, I feel the shortage of lime zest does make a distinction within the taste. When you actually need to punch up the limey-ness, combine it into the filling. The feel was extremely clean and general, this made for a reasonably good pie.
This key lime pie had all of the makings of a traditional and earned very excessive marks. The recipe combines Miette’s home made graham crackers with Martha Stewart’s Key Lime Pie Filling combined collectively in a single pie pan. I’ll admit, this was my first thought: Do we actually have to make home made graham crackers when it’s really easy (and handy!) to purchase a field? Nonetheless, the home made crackers give the crust a noticeable textural distinction. Sure it’s further effort, so you will have my permission to make use of store-bought crackers. When it got here to the ultimate judging, we liked the filling’s zingy, lime-filled taste. And with this pie’s creamy texture, we had been all quick followers.
Drumroll please… this could be probably the greatest key lime pies I’ve ever had. However I’ll admit: I used to be skeptical at first due to the coconut milk added to the filling. I knew the flavour would work properly, however I didn’t know if it will be too overpowering when paired with the limes. Nonetheless, the coconut milk acted as a pleasant candy base that helped mood the lime and saved it from being too acidic.
Some tasters couldn’t even inform there was coconut milk within the filling! The lime taste was upfront with out being overwhelming, and the one factor I seen after baking each single pie was that Adriana’s recipe is the one one which requires salt within the filling. That makes a distinction when it comes to bringing out the flavors. The feel was absolute perfection in its thick creaminess, and it was the one pie that each one of my style testers ate in its entirety. Run, don’t stroll to make this pie.
This put up was initially revealed on June ninth, 2022, and has since been up to date.
