Today we are going to talk about Key Lime Pie! After all, I did live in the Florida Keys for 18 years! I knew plenty of people who had key lime trees, so I was a bit spoiled to be using fresh key limes during these years. Nellie and Joes bottled juice works perfectly fine if you have no access to fresh key limes.
This is not the place I made the most Key Lime pies though…..it was in Ft. Lauderdale. When my son was about 2 years old, we left the Virgin Islands and moved to Ft. Lauderdale. I met my husband, John in the V.I., he was a professional sailor and I was an electrician ( more of these stories later ). I sailed with John for about 6 years, we ran both Charter and Private sailing yachts…. then once our son came along we could no longer sustain the boat lifestyle as a team. We moved ashore.
We decided to leave the beautiful Virgin Islands and relocate to Ft. Lauderdale, where John found work as a yacht captain & marine diesel mechanic. I was of course a new Mom, and not having any family in town, we needed to figure out a new plan since Dylan was a youngster, one of us always needed to be home with him. I decided to take night courses for the Baking and Pastry Program at the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale, while John worked during the days. After a year, I earned my Certificate, although I was already well versed in baking, having grown up with a grandma that made everything from scratch, along with all my cooking experience, it was a way in the door for pastry chef positions, for hotels and restaurants…. showing the professional training
After completing school, one of my jobs in Ft. Lauderdale was pastry chef for a Yacht Charter business that had 3 big party boats, each over 100′ long. People would charter the boats for parties going up and down the Intra Coastal Waterway. Lots of weddings, graduations, anniversaries, etc. I had my own kitchen just steps away from the yachts, so it was easy transporting all the products I made. Each yacht would have chefs that cooked the food for the parties right on board.
I made probably about a thousand Key Lime Pies while I worked there. I think it was the second weekend I had been working, and the 3 boat’s orders came in for Saturday and a Sunday (6 weddings):
6 wedding cakes from scratch, 750+ mini deserts like tarts, eclairs, truffles, and I can’t remember how many Key Lime Pies!. Whew, I figured if I could pull that off I could do just about anything. One of my instructors from school came and helped me decorating the wedding cakes. ( LOL, I discovered I was a better cake decorator than he was)! I was grateful for the help and he helped me make my deadlines with all products delivered to the yachts.
All of the pies I made there were pretty standard and basic with pre-made graham cracker crusts, (easiest way to go) the one version I am sharing today is a little fancier. Treat yourself!
Coconut Ginger Key Lime Pie
For the crust:
2 cups plus a few more Ginger Snaps
6 T. melted butter
½ cup unsweetened coconut
2 t. chopped crystallized (candied) ginger
Whirl the ginger snaps in the Cuisinart or Food processor until fine crumbs, add coconut and ginger until all finely mixed, pulse while adding butter. You may need to add an additional teaspoon of butter, make sure when you press it into pan it sticks together. Place crumb mixture into pie pan and bake at 350 degrees for 5-6 minutes.
Make sure it does not get too browned. Cool slightly, while crust is cooling:
In a medium mixing bowl whisk together:
1 can sweetened condensed milk
3 egg yolks
½ Key Lime Juice
1 t. lime zest (optional)
Pour into cooled crust and bake at 325 degrees for 10-12 minutes, do not overbake. It’s Ok if it jiggles, it will set. When pie is cool, place in refrigerator until chilled through.
For mixer:
1 cup chilled heavy cream, whip until soft peaks, then add 1 t. Cooks vanilla powder, and 1 T sugar (to taste)….you can make less or more sweet, to your taste, whip until stiff peak just a bit longer, don’t over whip.
To decorate the pie, you can place cream in pastry bags and pipe it or you can spread it all over pie… get creative. You can top with chopped candied ginger, toasted coconut, lime zest, sliced toasted almonds or macadamia nuts, put your own spin on it!
Let me know how and it turns out and send me a photo…
