Hands Down, This is the Best Key Lime Pie Recipe On the Internet

[ad_1]

In relation to the perfect key lime pie recipes, I’ve fond reminiscences of 1 particularly—and, after all, it dates again to center faculty. The Olive Backyard was residence to my youthful self’s peak-pie indulgences. Positive dinner was effective, however what I couldn’t await was dessert: a slice of black tie mousse cake and considered one of key lime pie. Piled excessive with whipped cream, the latter was a real pièce de résistance. Whereas I couldn’t let you know what truly went into the dreamy-delicious pies of my youth, there’s one factor I do know for certain: My discerning dessert palette has solely developed through the years.

With summer time in full swing, my dessert cravings lean shiny, zingy, and stuffed with zest. Sweets which might be refreshing on the finish of a meal however nonetheless fulfill the necessity for somewhat deal with. The very best key lime pie recipe checks all of the bins of a stellar summer time dessert. It’s one which celebrates the season and can maintain everybody lingering across the desk a short while longer. To substantiate as soon as and for all what constitutes the perfect key lime pie, I used to be greater than somewhat excited to place just a few recipes to the bake-off test.

key lime pie recipes with labels_best key lime pie recipes

Rules of the Road

Normally, this is where I tell y’all that all recipes are followed exactly as written without any adjustments for personal taste or flavor preferences. This is still true, but for this particular bake-off, I made a half-serving of every recipe instead of a full pie (my pie-loving heart does have its limits!). I used a scale to weigh out the halves to ensure accuracy when baking. Just trying to minimize food waste over right here! All pies have been baked the night time prior and tasted the subsequent day.

Rating Pointers

My crew of seven style testers all aligned on the next tips when rating every of the pies.

Filling Taste. Vibrant 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 substances. Limes, condensed milk, and egg yolks. Due to this, seeing slight variations in portions or extra substances added to the delicate distinctions that made every recipe stand out.

Now for the perfect half! Maintain scrolling to find which recipe reigned supreme in our Key Lime Pie Bake-Off.

key lime pies after baking_best key lime pie recipes

3 of 6

When I first tried this recipe, I had to go back and double-check that I hadn’t missed something, which usually isn’t a great start. The nice part of this contender for the best key lime pie recipe is that it’s almost entirely no-bake. The graham cracker crust is baked and then filled and frozen. The rest of it, however, we had a few issues with.

First, I had a few taste testers who weren’t so keen on the raw egg yolk situation. While there are some traditionalists who insist key lime pies be made with the uncooked filling, my team was unanimously anti-raw eggs. This also impacted the flavor as some noted it was a little eggy.

The biggest issue, however, was the texture. The recipe notes setting the pie out ahead of slicing so that you can slice through, but the pie basically melted within 30 minutes (not ideal!). Overall, I like the novelty of a frozen pie, but we had a few structural qualms with this one. If you try it, eat it straight out of the freezer to ensure a solid pie.

4 of 6

Our notes on this pie were actually pretty positive and everyone enjoyed their slices. The pie filling flavors were very well-balanced without being too sweet, and the taste of lime was nice as well. There was some debate about whether the meringue topping was really needed. While the salted vanilla meringue was tasty, most taste testers preferred a whipped cream topping to the meringue.

As the person who assembled every single recipe, I thought it was a lot of extra effort and dishes to make meringue when whipped cream would have been perfectly fine. (Though it was a great way to use up the leftover egg whites from using only yolks in the filling!) In the end, this pie recipe was good, but some of the other recipes edged it out on technicalities.

To be clear: this is a really good key lime pie recipe. However, I have to admit that I was skeptical when I discovered that it doesn’t use lime zest and includes vanilla in the filling. But upon further consideration (and more intentional tasting), I found that the vanilla adds a lovely, almost floral savoriness to the filling.

Taste testers noted that this one leaned on the slightly-sweeter side, but it did satisfy the group’s many sweet teeth. My testers who weren’t fans of key lime pie enjoyed this one the most as well. However, I think the lack of lime zest does make a difference in the flavor. If you really want to punch up the limey-ness, mix it into the filling. The texture was incredibly smooth and overall, this made for a pretty good pie.

5 of 6

This key lime pie had all the makings of a classic and earned very high marks. The recipe combines Miette’s homemade graham crackers with Martha Stewart’s Key Lime Pie Filling mixed together in one pie pan. I’ll admit, this was my first thought: Do we really need to make homemade graham crackers when it’s so easy (and convenient!) to buy a box? However, the homemade crackers give the crust a noticeable textural difference. Yes it’s extra effort, so you have my permission to use store-bought crackers. When it came to the final judging, we loved the filling’s zingy, lime-filled flavor. And with this pie’s creamy texture, we were all fast fans.

6 of 6

Drumroll please… this might be one of the best key lime pies I’ve ever had. But I’ll admit: I was skeptical at first because of the coconut milk added to the filling. I knew the flavor would work well, but I didn’t know if it would be too overpowering when paired with the limes. However, the coconut milk acted as a nice sweet base that helped temper the lime and kept it from being too acidic.

Some tasters couldn’t even tell there was coconut milk in the filling! The lime flavor was upfront without being overwhelming, and the one thing I noticed after baking every single pie was that Adriana’s recipe is the only one that calls for salt in the filling. That makes a difference in terms of bringing out the flavors. The texture was absolute perfection in its thick creaminess, and it was the one pie that all of my taste testers ate in its entirety. Run, don’t walk to make this pie.