Best key lime pie easy recipe

This is the best and easy key lime pie recipe, a delicious and refreshing tart ! An amazingly quick and easy dessert to make with a crisp crust layer, lemon cream filling and whipped cream.

If you're in the mood for a fresh and acidulous dessert, cheesecake or panna cota style, then this dessert is for you! Very easy and quick to prepare, the key lime pie, is perfect and great recipe for your summer meals!

Key lime pie

The key lime pie is a classic American dessert, more precisely from Florida where limes are cultivated. This tart is composed of a crumb crust, a generous layer of cream flavored with lime juice and decorated with a light cream.

This pie is full of flavor and freshness perfect for this season. We like the creaminess of its slightly acidic filling unlike the lemon curd that can be found in lemon meringue tart or in this lemon curd cupcake recipe.

It's also incredibly easy to make. A family-friendly dessert that you can make in a very short time if you have last minute guests and that will just require a little chill time.

Easy key lime pie recipe

In the traditional version of the Key Lime Pie, egg yolks are used in the cream filling to help structure the mixture, while the whites are used as meringue to decorate the pie.

But in this more modern and easier version, we have removed the eggs from the list of ingredients and the filling has a lighter texture and remains incredibly creamy in the mouth.

For the decoration part we replaced the meringue with a simple whipped cream that brings sweetness to this acidulous pie.

Useful tools for this recipe

• Pie plate 8/9 inch diameter
  
• Electric mixer essential to reduce to powder the cookies. Although it is also possible to put the cookies in pieces in a storage bag and crush them with a rolling pin.
• Pastry bag, useful for decorating the pie with a pastry bag.
• Angled spatula, to smooth the top of the pie if necessary.
  
• Zester, perfect for peeling lemons.

Composition of the Key lime pie

The crunchy graham cracker crumbs

The crunchy base is made of reconstituted shortbread cookies. In the United States they use graham crackers a lot, which you can replace with the shortbread cookies of your choice. Like speculoos or English shortbread. 

In this recipe it is not necessary to add sugar to the crust, as the cookies are often already sweetened.

To get a solid base, pack the cookie mixture well with, for example, the back of a measuring cup or a tablespoon. And the base must also be thick enough and after a little while of baking you will have a nice reconstituted cookie crumb for your pie.

The key lime pie filling

The creamy filling of the Key Lime Pie is made up of sweetened condensed milk, lime juice, lemon peel and sour cream.

The quantities here will give you a thick filling for a 8 - 9 inch diameter pie. You can divide the quantities by 2 for a smaller thickness of cream.

Whipped cream

In the traditional recipe we use meringue, like in the lemon meringue pie recipe. But here for a lighter version use heavy cream with a little confectioner's sugar to sweeten it.

Prepare the whipped cream and decorate your pie with it just before serving. Use an electric whisk or your stand mixer to prepare it.

How to make key lime pie

Crunchy base

Start by placing the chunky shortbread cookies in a blender. Then grind them into a powder by blending them finely until there are no large pieces of cookie left.

Then melt the chopped soft butter in a saucepan over medium heat or in the microwave.

Place the crumbled cookies in a container and pour the melted butter over them. Stir with a wooden spoon so that the crumbled cookies soak into the melted butter.

Pour the crust mixture into a pie pan and using a tablespoon, your hands or a glass, pack the mixture in the bottom and up the sides to form a pie crust.

Preheat the oven to 356°F / 180°C and bake the crust for 7-10 minutes and let it cool while you prepare the filling.

Lemon cream filling

Place the contents of 2 small cans of sweetened condensed milk in a large container.

Add lime juice, lime zest and chill cream and whisk until smooth.

Pour this mixture into the pie pan containing the reconstituted cookie base and smooth the top with an angled spatula.

Finally, bake in the oven at 320°F / 160°C for about 15-20 minutes, until the cream has firmed up.

Let the pie cool for about 20 minutes at room temperature before placing it in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

The whipped cream

Place the heavy cream and confectioner's sugar in a medium bowl and beat with an electric whisk at medium speed for about 5 minutes. Until you obtain a firm whipped cream. (Be careful not to over-whip at the risk of slicing the cream and obtaining a grainy texture)

Place the whipped cream in a pastry bag fitted with a fluted tip and decorate the top of the tart. Add lime pieces and sprinkle the key lime pie with zest.

How to store Key Lime Pie

It is consumed well cold and it is necessary to store itin the refrigerator and keep fresh for about 2 - 3 days.

Other recipes with lemon

• Lemon pound cake
• Lemon Meringue Tarts
• Lemon Curd Cupcakes

 

Don't forget to tag me @sweetlycakes on Instagram if you make my Key lime pie recipe and add a link to my recipe if you share it on your blog 😉